Chapter 4: Scott
Scott sighed moodily as he stared at the door. He was waiting for his orders to come through, and then he'd get to work on his ship. Well, not technically his. After all, he wasn't the chief engineer. Just a secondary one. Unfortunately, he had nothing to do without them.
He sighed again, the fifth time in as many minutes. He couldn't stand people making him wait. Honestly. Him.
He turned to the computer. "Computer, what is taking so long?"
"Specify request," the computer responded tonelessly.
"Why is it taking so long for my orders to be ratified?" he asked impatiently.
"Access to that information is denied." He perked up. Access? That was all? He could get access, no problem. After all, he did hack part of the Starfleet mainframe computer when he was in grade school.
"Is it password-protected?" he asked.
"Affirmative."
"Put the password screen up for me." Grinning now, he sat down in front of the monitor. He gave it a specialized engineer's bypass, and got to the coding of the system. He set to work, and within five minutes, he had his access. "Computer, detail list of ships currently docked at Starbase 24."
"Order by name, alphabetical; commanding officer, alphabetical; registration number, numerical; or-."
"Name, alphabetical."
"USS Alremsat, NCC-17427. USS Bell, NCC-42479. USS Birdcall, NCC- 57584. USS Challenger, NCC-1420 N."
"Computer halt. Where is Challenger located?"
That was when the door opened. A lieutenant walked in, and heard all of what the computer said.
"The USS Challenger, NCC-1420 N is located in Berth C, Section Alpha 4."
The lieutenant, a Vulcan, raised one eyebrow. "Getting into trouble already, Ensign? Computer deactivate." Before Scott could say anything in his own defense, the Vulcan turned. "You need to meet the admiral now."
Scott nodded meekly, and followed the Vulcan out into the bustling corridors of Starbase 24. After ten minutes of walking, which made Scott wonder if there was a shorter route, they arrived at the door to the Admiral's office. The door opened in front of him, and he walked in apprehensively. It was a bit like being called to the principal's office. "Greetings, admiral," he said nervously.
"You're getting off to a great start here, aren't you, Ensign?" The admiral seemed a little bit angry. Rightfully so, Scott thought vaguely. Scott had, after all, just hacked into his station's computer without official access. "Now, I called you up here to tell you that you were going to get a fresh start on this ship. But then again, maybe now.
Scott managed to look guilty. With an effort.
The admiral looked exasperated. "Go. Just go. To your ship, wherever. Get out of my office."
Scott performed a strategic retreat, and then made off towards Berth C, Section Alpha 4. Once he got there, he caught sight of her. Challenger. She was beautiful. The lights in the station illuminated her just right. She was Rebel-class, or Preliminary-class, as the Starfleet Command-ies liked to put it. Pretty much, she was built to work on her own, without any outside assistance, and with only a small crew. He smiled.
Then suddenly he jumped as a hand tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me. Ensign. Can I help you?" A crewman looked up at him.
"Um, yes. I need to get over to Challenger. I'm assigned to her- second engineer."
"Sure thing, sir. Crewman Madzi to Lieutenant. er. Jess."
"Jess here," came a female voice.
"Do this Ensign here a favor and beam him over to the ship," the crewman said, grinning. "That is, if you've fixed the transporters."
"I have, in a manner of speaking. All right. I'll beam him over straightaway."
A couple minutes later, Scott disappeared in a shower of sparkles. A transporter platform appeared in front of him. It seemed haphazardly thrown into the corner of the room.
Come to think of it, everything seemed to be haphazardly thrown somewhere. Consoles were everywhere, so a decent-sized human had no room to walk. They only stopped for the door, and even then barely. The warp core was in the adjacent corner. Apparently Engineering and the Transporter Room were combined.
There was the bottom of a person coming out from beneath the console directly in front of him. "Um.Hello?"
"Yeah, I know you're here," Lieutenant Jesminda Longbottom said moodily. She crawled out and stood. "Lieutenant Jesminda Longbottom. And if you dare call me anything except for "lieutenant" or "Jess", I'll sic our new tactical officer on you."
He blinked. "Right. I'll keep that in mind. Which to you prefer?"
"Given the option, Jess."
"I'm Ensign Scott Robinson," he said, realizing belatedly that her introducing herself was probably a clue for him to introduce himself as well.
"Kay. Scott, what do you think is the problem with the transporter?"
He panicked slightly. "There's a problem with the transporter? You could have told me that before I beamed over here!" He patted his face, as if making sure everything was still there.
"Relax. The activation sequence on the console won't work. That's why I was under there." She pointed to her former position. "Find out what's wrong with it. Fix it. I'm busy with the communications array."
"I think I hate factory-fresh ships," he muttered. He ran a hand along the transporter console.
"Well, considering this ship, that's not an attitude you're going to let go of soon. Now get to work."
Moodily, he went about trying to fix the transporter.
Scott sighed moodily as he stared at the door. He was waiting for his orders to come through, and then he'd get to work on his ship. Well, not technically his. After all, he wasn't the chief engineer. Just a secondary one. Unfortunately, he had nothing to do without them.
He sighed again, the fifth time in as many minutes. He couldn't stand people making him wait. Honestly. Him.
He turned to the computer. "Computer, what is taking so long?"
"Specify request," the computer responded tonelessly.
"Why is it taking so long for my orders to be ratified?" he asked impatiently.
"Access to that information is denied." He perked up. Access? That was all? He could get access, no problem. After all, he did hack part of the Starfleet mainframe computer when he was in grade school.
"Is it password-protected?" he asked.
"Affirmative."
"Put the password screen up for me." Grinning now, he sat down in front of the monitor. He gave it a specialized engineer's bypass, and got to the coding of the system. He set to work, and within five minutes, he had his access. "Computer, detail list of ships currently docked at Starbase 24."
"Order by name, alphabetical; commanding officer, alphabetical; registration number, numerical; or-."
"Name, alphabetical."
"USS Alremsat, NCC-17427. USS Bell, NCC-42479. USS Birdcall, NCC- 57584. USS Challenger, NCC-1420 N."
"Computer halt. Where is Challenger located?"
That was when the door opened. A lieutenant walked in, and heard all of what the computer said.
"The USS Challenger, NCC-1420 N is located in Berth C, Section Alpha 4."
The lieutenant, a Vulcan, raised one eyebrow. "Getting into trouble already, Ensign? Computer deactivate." Before Scott could say anything in his own defense, the Vulcan turned. "You need to meet the admiral now."
Scott nodded meekly, and followed the Vulcan out into the bustling corridors of Starbase 24. After ten minutes of walking, which made Scott wonder if there was a shorter route, they arrived at the door to the Admiral's office. The door opened in front of him, and he walked in apprehensively. It was a bit like being called to the principal's office. "Greetings, admiral," he said nervously.
"You're getting off to a great start here, aren't you, Ensign?" The admiral seemed a little bit angry. Rightfully so, Scott thought vaguely. Scott had, after all, just hacked into his station's computer without official access. "Now, I called you up here to tell you that you were going to get a fresh start on this ship. But then again, maybe now.
Scott managed to look guilty. With an effort.
The admiral looked exasperated. "Go. Just go. To your ship, wherever. Get out of my office."
Scott performed a strategic retreat, and then made off towards Berth C, Section Alpha 4. Once he got there, he caught sight of her. Challenger. She was beautiful. The lights in the station illuminated her just right. She was Rebel-class, or Preliminary-class, as the Starfleet Command-ies liked to put it. Pretty much, she was built to work on her own, without any outside assistance, and with only a small crew. He smiled.
Then suddenly he jumped as a hand tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me. Ensign. Can I help you?" A crewman looked up at him.
"Um, yes. I need to get over to Challenger. I'm assigned to her- second engineer."
"Sure thing, sir. Crewman Madzi to Lieutenant. er. Jess."
"Jess here," came a female voice.
"Do this Ensign here a favor and beam him over to the ship," the crewman said, grinning. "That is, if you've fixed the transporters."
"I have, in a manner of speaking. All right. I'll beam him over straightaway."
A couple minutes later, Scott disappeared in a shower of sparkles. A transporter platform appeared in front of him. It seemed haphazardly thrown into the corner of the room.
Come to think of it, everything seemed to be haphazardly thrown somewhere. Consoles were everywhere, so a decent-sized human had no room to walk. They only stopped for the door, and even then barely. The warp core was in the adjacent corner. Apparently Engineering and the Transporter Room were combined.
There was the bottom of a person coming out from beneath the console directly in front of him. "Um.Hello?"
"Yeah, I know you're here," Lieutenant Jesminda Longbottom said moodily. She crawled out and stood. "Lieutenant Jesminda Longbottom. And if you dare call me anything except for "lieutenant" or "Jess", I'll sic our new tactical officer on you."
He blinked. "Right. I'll keep that in mind. Which to you prefer?"
"Given the option, Jess."
"I'm Ensign Scott Robinson," he said, realizing belatedly that her introducing herself was probably a clue for him to introduce himself as well.
"Kay. Scott, what do you think is the problem with the transporter?"
He panicked slightly. "There's a problem with the transporter? You could have told me that before I beamed over here!" He patted his face, as if making sure everything was still there.
"Relax. The activation sequence on the console won't work. That's why I was under there." She pointed to her former position. "Find out what's wrong with it. Fix it. I'm busy with the communications array."
"I think I hate factory-fresh ships," he muttered. He ran a hand along the transporter console.
"Well, considering this ship, that's not an attitude you're going to let go of soon. Now get to work."
Moodily, he went about trying to fix the transporter.