Schrödinger & Von Braun

Posted on Wed Jul 12th, 2017 @ 2:02pm by Staff Warrant Officer Aoife Ó Móráin & Staff Warrant Officer Victoria Sparks & Warrant Officer Gemma Allusa
Edited on on Wed Jul 12th, 2017 @ 2:03pm

Mission: Overhaul
Location: USS Protean - Shuttlebay

Japori Sector
Starbase 343
USS Protean Shuttlebay

With the ship refit almost complete, Staff Warrant Officer Victoria Sparks noticed quite a bit of equipment being removed from Protean and, most likely, being sent to a storeroom to sit for eternity or, for other parts, being recycled in one of the industrial replicators on the station. Since the majority of the parts being removed were able to fit in other ships, or better yet, shuttles, she requested that the bulk of the parts be allowed to remain on board the ship before they were all sent over to the station.

She made a logical, and well thought-out plea to Lt. Tepic that the parts, which were still in good working order, should be used to upgrade the Type-9 shuttlecraft on Protean. She had found instruments that would upgrade its shield strength, phasers, and even provide it with an increase in warp capability. After some discussion with Tepic, they even determined that they may be able to increase the range of the medium-range transporters on at least one of the shuttles. While the Type-9’s were only slated for two pilots and two crew, there was always room for extra bodies in an emergency transport situation.

Tepic agreed and brought the information to Lt. Cmdr. Bevan. The XO, being of the mindset that the more defensive capabilities a ship had the more use it could be in a tactical situation, was quick to sign off on the project as long as Tepic could get approval to allocate the equipment to Protean from the station’s chief engineer. That task took less than three hours.

“Aiofe, check it now,” Victoria called from halfway under the rear console. “That should do it.”

Staff Warrant Officer Aoife Ó Móráin, the ship’s Boatswain, had been requested by Victoria to assist her in this endeavor, as had Warrant Officer Gemma Allusa, a flight control officer. In just over one day the warrant officers had pulled most of the guts out of the first shuttle, the Schrödinger, and had made all of the upgrades. Gemma even had time to take it out for a test run of the warp drive and to test fire the phasers. They were able to get a top sustainable speed of warp 7 out of the engines, upgrade the phasers to Type VII’s, and a twenty-five kilometer increase in the mid-range transporters. All in all, they considered it a success.

The second shuttle, the Von Braun, had been giving them all a headache.

“You’re still off, Vic,” Aiofe replied. “It’s reading 482 and we need--”

“620, I know, I know. Dammit.”

“Why is this one being such a pain,” Gemma asked, returning from a lunch run with food for everyone. “Schrödinger was a cake walk. I mean, you two are the engineering-type folks, I just fly the things, but it’s almost as if Von Braun doesn’t want to be upgraded.”

“Yer bum’s oot the windae!” Aiofe replied, slipping into her Scottish brogue. “This fud of a shuttle will do what it’s told!”

Victoria began chuckling from underneath the console. “Did you just call this thing a daft cunt?”

“Aye. I did. And I meant it, the little shit.”

Most everyone on board Protean enjoyed working with Aiofe because of her Scottish accent. She tried to speak more clearly when working with the crew, and not use Scottish slang that no one would understand, but when she was with her friends, or especially when she got riled up, the accent and colloquialisms would come out on their own.

Victoria replied, “Well, you’ll get no argument from me. I’m doing the exact same thing we did on Schrödinger and it’s just not happening. I just don’t understand how we can be so far off?”

“Why don’t you guys take a break and eat?” Gemma cleared a spot on the workstation across from where Victoria lay to set the food. “We’ll talk about something else, maybe relax those brain cells a bit, and you might just have an epiphany.”

Aiofe snorted. “Ah, yer talkin pish, Gemma, but I could eat the scabby heid aff a wean.”

Gemma turned green. “Oh...god. I think I just lost my appetite.”

Victoria chuckled again, sliding out from under the console. She and Aiofe worked often with each other and hearing the Scottish oddities from Aiofe only made her laugh now. She’d gotten over the strange sayings, such as being so hungry that she could the scabby head off of a child.

“Did you bring my stovies?” Aiofe asked, her eyes curious as to what was in the bag Gemma had set on the console.

“I told you the computer wouldn’t know what that was, Aiofe, and I couldn’t think of what else to call it, so I just ordered each component. Beef stock, stewed potatoes, carrots, onions, and sliced roast beef pieces, pepper and salt. And some crusty bread pieces.”

Aiofe opened the container and smiled. “Stovies! You’re a fair cook.”

“Chef salad with turkey, croutons, and italian dressing for Victoria,” she said, handing another container off, “and for me, a bacon double cheeseburger and fries.”

Victoria raised her eyebrows. “Do you eat like that all the time?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Not a thing. But you must have a super-high metabolism to stay as skinny as you are. Me? I’d have love handles to spare if I ate even one of those.”

Changing the subject, Gemma wondered aloud, “So, given that the Protean is a science vessel, why do we not have one of the shuttles set up with an enhanced sensor package? Kind of like a mini-Protean that can be sent into smaller places or used for specific mission profiles.”

“Not a bad idea,” Aiofe said as she crammed a mouthful of bread into her mouth. “Although, I think its use would be limited.”

“Well,” Victoria began, “the ship just got upgraded weapons, making her pretty badass now. And Nova class ships have some of the best sensors in the fleet, second only to a Nebula with the sensor module attached. It would be kind of nice to have an upgraded science shuttle since Schrödinger is a little more badass on its own now.”

The trio sat in silence as they worked on their meals until Aiofe spoke up. “Think the cap’n would go for it?”

“She might,” said Gemma. “Being the former CSO she seems to be more inclined to lean toward the scientific and a specialized shuttle may be just up her alley.”

“Apparently Von Braun doesn’t want to be a run-and-gun shuttle, so maybe the science side would do better.” Victoria frowned. “I just wonder if Tepic would go for it? I’d hate to have to tell him we couldn’t get this particular upgrade installed so we’re opting for something else.”

“Don’t tell him it didnae work! Just tell him we came up with this idea and, while we were working on ‘em, we decided to ask him about it.”

Since it was her boss that would require the convincing, Victoria had to give it some thought as she finished up her salad. Finally, after the last bite she said, “Oh, what the hell. The worst he can do is say no.”