Chapter 2: Who is Major Problems?

"Lay in a course back into the nebula, Ensign," Aurora said, "warp six."

"Aye, Captain."

A muted humming filled the bridge as the ship went to warp. Aurora let out a tiny sigh in pleasure; the humming of the warp engine always calmed her down and calm was something she desperately needed. After only two days as captain, the chair and the position still felt far too large for her to fill and it was showing. She was fidgeting, squirming and shifting position too often. It wasn't much, but enough for some to notice. More than a few times, she'd caught Maleficent shoot her a reproachful look, although Maleficent hadn't voiced her misgivings. Not surprisingly, that hadn't helped with Aurora's uneasiness. Merely sitting next to the larger-than-life first officer made Aurora feel like she was disappearing down into her chair.

Commander Moors, she halfheartedly corrected herself. Not that it seemed to be helping, though; ever since the commander had told Aurora her nickname, Aurora's mind had been hellbent on using it and nothing else. Luckily, she hadn't said it out loud. Yet.

She cast a quick glance to her left where Maleficent was sitting, reading something on a PADD. She looked so natural in command, so experienced and so effortlessly collected. From what she knew from Maleficent's file, she'd been serving on various ships for many years, so the experience was certainly well deserved. Perhaps Maleficent could help her adjust to her new position? She would have to ask her about that... eventually.

Her gaze came unbidden to rest on the Vulcan's face, taking in the sharp angles and the pale skin. Frowning, she lingered on her lips for a moment. They were always so striking. Did Maleficent use makeup to highlight them or were they naturally so dark? Before she had time to ponder any more, she felt herself being watched and snapped her eyes up only to find Maleficent meeting her gaze, one eyebrow slightly hitched.

Aurora immediately turned her head forward, swallowing her embarrassment as best she could as she smoothed out her uniform. She just hoped she wasn't blushing too obviously. Why couldn't she stop ogling her fellow officers? At first, she'd thought it was a general fascination with aliens, but when neither the only Bajoran on the bridge, Lieutenant Diaval, or any of the other aliens caught her eye, she figured that perhaps she simply found Vulcans in particular interesting. After all, they'd been the first species humans ever came into contact with and that had to count for something, right? But no, once again she was proven wrong when she never found herself staring longer at any Vulcans on the ship than at anyone else. Anyone except Maleficent, that is.

So basically, she was borderline obsessed with one of the most inaccessible people on the ship. Even disregarding the potential problems regarding rank and ethics violations, Vulcans weren't exactly known for being the most cuddly and warm people in the galaxy. Devising a way to get anything more than cordial with one seemed to be an achievement worthy of the Daystrom Prize.

A sudden shiver that rocked the ship immediately pulled her out of her musings.

"Report," Maleficent commanded, a hint of a frown marring her face and her PADD instantly forgotten in her lap.

The officer at the helm – Ensign Philip Scarlett, a young man straight out of the academy – was frantically tapping on the display, shaking his head. "I have no idea, Commander. We just dropped down to warp two without warning and I can't get it any higher." He rubbed his neck, staring at the display. "It... might have something to do with the fluctuations in the power grid. I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like it."

Sharing a quick glance with Maleficent, Aurora licked her lips and tapped her combadge. "Lieutenant Bailey, is there a problem in engineering? We just lost speed." The last thing she needed was a breakdown of one or more of the ship's systems. Losing the captain had been bad enough.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I don't have time to explain, but we have to drop out of warp and shut down the core. We've got some major problems down here."

A lump in Aurora's throat made her swallow hard. Major problems on her ship was the absolutely last thing she would've wanted. "I'm on my way. Do what you need to do." Tapping the combadge again, she stood and turned to Maleficent. "I'd like you down there as well, Commander." When Maleficent only gave her a questioning look, she continued. "I've barely talked to him and you were chief engineer up until two days ago. I could use your assistance."

"Very well," Maleficent agreed after a moment of consideration, following Aurora to the turbolift.


"Commander," Aurora said as they walked to engineering, finally able to gather enough courage to ask her. "I was wondering if you, ah, would want to have lunch with me today? I mean, we're going to have to work closely together now and I– we barely know each other." She hoped it sounded as logical said out loud as it did in her head. Not that she wanted to impress the Vulcan with her logic. Definitely not.

"I'm afraid that will not be possible," Maleficent replied. "I have a previous engagement."

"Oh." She felt a mixture of disappointment and jealousy – something she knew she definitely had no right to feel – and couldn't help the slight slouch of her body that the reply resulted in.

"Tonight, however, I'm am free." Maleficent glanced at Aurora with an unreadable look in her eyes. "If you're willing to have dinner instead."

"Oh! Yes, I'd like that very much," Aurora exclaimed, her beaming smile and her attempt at a stoic attitude worthy of her position warring for dominance on her face. "I mean, um, yes. I'm willing." Hearing what she just said, she wanted to smack herself. Sure, she was willing – willing like a horny teenager spreading her legs for the first tall, smoldering Vulcan that came along. This time she almost groaned; she did not need images like that in her mind but they seemed to become a regular occurrence around Maleficent.

The Vulcan in question was curiously watching Aurora and the mass of emotions that crossed her face, head tilted slightly in an unspoken question. Aurora could practically hear her thoughts: Curious little beastie. So young and illogical. Always bouncing around and feeling things. How quaint. She shook her head, willing her blush to disappear.

"Captain, Commander," Lieutenant Bailey greeted them when they entered main engineering. He was tall and imposing but not bulky and looked like he would inflict serious bodily harm to the next person who annoyed him. If it was his usual appearance or because of the problems with the engine, Aurora wasn't sure. "We've just turned off the warp core and pulled the power from all tactical systems, most of the shields, holodecks and a few other systems. Things appear to be stable. For now."

"Get to the point, Balthazar," Maleficent told him, surprising Aurora with the unusually human phrase.

"Of course, Commander," he muttered in his hoarse voice. "In short, some of the gas we've collected from the nebula have escaped confinement and contaminated the whole power grid. We're lucky that we found it this quickly. If it reached the core, we might all have been charred remains by now."

"But we've been in the nebula for weeks," Aurora argued, her brows furrowed. "Shouldn't we have noticed something before now?" She turned to Maleficent, happy that she'd brought the former chief engineer. Engineering had never been Aurora's strong suit. "Did you know anything about this?"

Maleficent shook her head. "I've heard nothing of this before now."

"Come on, I'll show you," Balthazar told them, waving them over to a computer console. Pulling up graphics over the engine and the warp nacelles, he started to explain. "When we were in the nebula, we used the bussard collectors to take samples of the nebula's matter. The buffers," he pointed to a small area near the openings of the collectors, "are where the gas stay for a while before it's transferred to its destination: holding tanks or one of the science labs for example."

Aurora nodded, studying the graphics intensely and soaking up every word. Although she wasn't much for engineering, she had made a point of learning layout of the USS Fae until she knew the ship inside and out.

"Now, when we exited the nebula, the bussard collectors were disabled and the buffers were purged." He jabbed the screen, zooming in. "Or so we thought. Turns out the particles in the gas reacted to the purge in a way no one knew they could – at least not the ship engineers. Somehow the gas created microfractures in the isolation of the buffers. When we went back into the nebula and activated the bussard collectors again, some of the gas went through the fractures, spreading to nearby systems."

"So that's what Lieutenant Scarlett saw as fluctuations in the power grid?" Aurora asked, clenching her jaw together. "The power grid is affected?"

"Correct," Balthazar noted gruffly. "When we went to warp, the gas spread quickly throughout the power grid. We're lucky it didn't reach the core before we found out and shut it down. That shiver that pulled the warp down to two? That was the gas disabling one of the nacelles."

A shiver shot up her spine as Aurora thought of the possibility that they would've just exploded without any warning. It was chilling. "Alright. What's the plan to repair this?"

Balthazar and Maleficent exchanged looks before Balthazar turned back to Aurora. "A complete, manual purge of the whole power grid, replacing the parts of it that are too badly damaged. Before we do that, though, we'll have to replace and reinforce the isolation around the bussard collectors and do a complete sweep of the grid to find out the extent of the damage."

"How long will it take?" Aurora asked, her stomach dropping. This was supposed to be a simple mission.

"At most a few days until we can do the purge. That will take anywhere between a few hours and a few days though, and will have to be done with the power grid offline." He crossed his arms. "No main power, auxiliary or emergency power. Only battery powered generators."

"We should replicate portable lighting units and air recyclers before we turn of the power, among other things," Maleficent noted with a glance at Aurora. "And we should begin preparations as soon as possible."

"Agreed," Aurora said, barely managing to keep a quaver out of voice, her palms sweaty. "I'll make an announcement when we're back on the bridge. Send a full report to me when you have anything else, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Captain. Commander." He headed back to the warp core and Aurora and Maleficent left, walking briskly back to the bridge.

"He's one of the best engineers I've known," Maleficent said after a while, not looking at Aurora. "We will get through this unharmed."

"Yes. Of course," Aurora mumbled, eyes unfocused as her mind raced through what she would say to the crew.

"You will get us through this unharmed, Captain." Maleficent's words made Aurora start and look up. "Despite your lack of experience, I find you to be a very promising officer."

"Thanks," Aurora breathed, then looked down again, chewing on her lip. "I never wanted to be captain, though. Honestly, I barely even wanted to be first officer, but I couldn't get a science position on any ship on an interesting mission." She wasn't sure she should be saying this, but she needed to tell someone. "But then I got this offer and I had to get away from– I wanted to get away."

"Captain."

She shook her head with a wistful smile, too lost in her own mind to hear Maleficent. "And then the captain dies and the ship is dead in the water, moments away from a core breach and killing everyone on board. I should have known, or made sure it was safe, or–"

"Captain Rose." That, finally, caused Aurora to look up in surprise. "Neither I nor Lieutenant Bailey had foreseen this. It is on us, not on you. Do not blame yourself for things that are out of your control."

They stepped into the turbolift and Aurora nodded weakly. "I... I know. I'm sorry. I'm just... I don't know. It's all a bit overwhelming," she said quietly and shrugged.

"Indeed it is."

Something with how terse Maleficent sounded made Aurora turn her head toward her, studying the Vulcan's face intensely. Her jaws were clenched and her face was harder than usual.

"What?" Maleficent asked, voice a little sharp.

"You're a Vulcan–"

"An astute observation."

"–so you don't have to deal with any emotions, right? I mean, you have them, but you repress them. You don't feel them."

Had Maleficent been human, Aurora would have said she looked vaguely uncomfortable. As it was, she wasn't sure at all what Maleficent's facial expression really meant.

"While that may be the case for Vulcans, I am only half Vulcan. My father was human." She raised an eyebrow, appearing somewhat annoyed. "Did you neglect to read my file?"

"Oh, I, ah– I'm, I mean, I read it but I... must have missed that." Aurora was stammering, blushing both from missing such an important detail and from remembering why she'd missed it. The photo of Maleficent in her file had been so striking, she'd gotten a little... distracted. "I'm sorry. I should've known."

"It is alright." Maleficent paused. "Although I may appear Vulcan, I can assure you that I do have more emotions than a full Vulcan." She tilted her nose up into the air just a bit, wrinkling it in a show of disgust. "I simply don't flaunt them."

"I see." Aurora blinked, once again unable to take her eyes off of Maleficent. Images of Maleficent scowling, looking surprised, laughing and smiling flashed through her mind, leaving her with only one thought. Somehow, some day – preferably soon – she had to see Maleficent's smile.