An unexpected arrival

Posted on Thu Mar 4th, 2021 @ 12:11am by Lieutenant Victor Barclay de Tolly & Ensign Kara Hoffman & Lieutenant JG Marcellus Sattine an Dasa ( Barclay de Tolly ) & Lieutenant JG Joral Bin. ( Barclay de Tolly ) & Lieutenant JG Paulie O'Rourke ( Barclay de Tolly )

Mission: Season 5: Episode 1: No Exit
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: Present
1220 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Kara slumped into main engineering. She had just been given a severe telling off from admiral kabar, from Starfleet. Luckily she had kept her commission, but any other problems, and she was gone, so she had to work hard to make up for it.

Looking around she recognized a few crewmembers. "Ensign tabal, could you tell me where the chief is please?"

Shocked at the ex-chief's return, ensign Tabal panicked. "Oh! Oh yeah, the office, um, ma'am." Shesaid, smiling a little.

"Thanks Tabal, i'm sorry i left so suddenly. you know how it is..." Kara smiled, nervously, before turning to head to the door of her old office, the chief engineers office. She rang the chime and awaited a response.

Victor was in his office with Lt. JG. Paulie O'Rourke, the Assistant Chief of Engineering of Gamma Shift. "Come in Lt. Hoffman. It is great to see you. You remember O'Rourke. He works on Gamma Shift."

Paulie smiled seeing Lt. Hoffman. "Welcome back Mam. Hope all is well."

Kara's face lit up. "O'Rourke, a pleasure as always. Things are better, thanks for asking." She smiled and nodded "So how you managing chief?" She asked with a polite tone.

Paulie realized he was blocking her view, so he stepped aside. "Lt. Hoffman, may I present to you Lt. Victor Barclay de Tolly. Sir, this Lt. Kara Hoffman."

Victor recalled she had left abruptly a few days before he came on board but he never asked why because he assumed why many left that day due to the Mirror Universe mission. "Glad to finally meet you Kara. Call me Victor. I received the message you were returning. You will be my permanent Assistant Chief of Engineering. I have had three doing that position like Paulie here. The other two are Lt. JG. Joral Bin and Lt. Tonya King. Tonya is on an Away Mission at the moment and Joral will be coming on duty at the end of this shift. Paulie, I need to talk to Lt. Hoffman alone."

"Yes Sir," Paulie replies. "Good day Lt. Hoffman."

After he left, Victor gestured her to sit down. "Kara, is there anything I can do to help you transition back into the Elysium?"

Kara smiled and sat. "Thank you sir!" She said, almost feeling like an academy student once more. "No, I was chief of the elysium for nearly 2 years, I'll catch back up no problem. By the way, have you solved that issue with the computer core efficiency? The last time I was here, we were having issues with the computer core using more than twice the memory it should have been using, never could quite get to the bottom of it. Not to mention the nacelle plasma conduit ruptures, any advances on solving those problems?" She enquired, testing her new chief.

She then continued. "Oh and deck 12's replicator was having problems, in-fact decks' 11, 12, 7 and 8 all reported replicator malfunctions that I, nor any of my staff could explain at the time,. nor fix. Oh and did you manage to track down the plasma leak on deck 16? That was a little bastard that one, could never find the damn thing..." She quipped. Oh and maynars quarters, he had a door malfunction, oh and another thing.. oh wait.. uhh... maybe I should just let you speak now, chief." She shut up. She wasn't the chief, she had to learn her place.

"Lt. Tonya King and Ensign Louis Bordeaux was able to fix the plasma leak," Victor replied. "Lt. Joral Bin and a few others worked on the replicators. We had to replace several of them. The Warp Plasma Regulators malfunction causing the flow of the plasma issue. We caught it before it leaked out. That is one of the reasons I have the Engineers run effeciency tests daily. As for as the Computer Core goes, the two Main Computer Core in the Hull run in parallel. There is a Computer Core that run in the Engineering Hull. One might see it as redundant running these in parallel but if one goes down, the other is there to back it up. "

Kara was impressed, no doubt about it. "Looks like we're all in good hands. I'm more than happy to lend you my hands, chief. You need something done, I'll get it done no matter what!" She said, proud to be serving under Victor. "You have my full support. It is an honour to serve you, lieutenant."

"You too," Victor nods. "I understand you have a partner on board and a child. Reason I am asking is I had meeting with the counselor. My problem is I have been a workaholic since I came on board, not taking time for my children. I do not want you to neglect your partner or child and when we feel there is time we need to spend with our family, we should ask the other. You are my back up and I am your backup. I am going to treat you as an equal because you are my equal. Were you briefed on my past as in how I came to the Elysium?"

Kara nodded. "I was given a briefing packet, yes. You have been through quite alot, haven't you..."

"That I have," Victor sighs. "I am fortunate to be here with my daughter and I am courting the old fashion way this reality version of my late wife. You will like Tonya. She has been through a lot as well. She had four fiancées all killed by a lunatic. Several reasons why we are taking it slow. One gets used to changes."

Kara frowned. "Four? That is awful. I hope the lunatic has been caught and is locked up?" She asked. "Sorry, probably none of my business anyways, but I am so sorry for her and you. It can't be easy living with such a heavy burden on her and your shoulders."

"Long story short," Victor says to Kara sincerely, "My father Commander Pyotr Zhukov caught him. He was place on trial and found guilty. He escapes and places others in danger. My father kills him saving the hostages. So let me introduce you to several new Engineers. Ensign Tarr Zell is an Ingavi which is a race that looks like apes. He is great carrying things. We also have Lt. JG. Marcellus Sattine an Dasa. His specialty is Agricultural Engineering. They replaced ones who were lost in the Mirror Universe. I know it must have been hard on you loosing so many friends. I am glad you are back and I will not pry into what you must be feeling but if there is ever a time you need down time, I will understand."


Kara nodded. "Thank you Lieutenant. I promise to always give you and the Elysium, my best. I'll get started with the daily maintenance routine and round up the troops for the afternoon briefing if you like? That way you can focus on other matters, Believe me I know how much paperwork comes with being the chief." Kara mentioned, remembering having to burn the midnight oil quite alot just to keep on top of everything.

"Amen to that," Victor says with happiness and content. The two of them talked a little longer as Victor respected her more for her fortitude and preseeverance.