Extra Hands

Posted on Fri Jan 23rd, 2026 @ 2:59am by Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Civilian Teevs Dosivi

Mission: Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Various locations
Timeline: MD3?
1084 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

When not working with Naxea to get slotted in with the marines, Teevs had been offering his hands for some of the manual labour. While his quarters were still trashed, he was able to recover his tools and borrow some spare pieces from Engineering. He was responding to a request from an Anna Esquivias. He recognised the name, and recalled seeing her in meetings, but he couldn't recall actually meeting her.

Anna was kneeling in the corridor with a panel open. She was fiddling with it with her spanner. She stood as she heard Teevs approaching, casually and unnecessarily brushing her uniform. "Teevs?" She had also seen him in meetings, though she did not really know him. "Thanks for coming."

"It's no trouble. I know the engineers are quite busy," Teevs responded with a smile, toolkit over his shoulder. "Miss Esquivias, right?"

"Anna is fine," she answered him.

Teevs gave a polite nod. "Miss Anna," he confirmed. "How may I assist?"

"Just Anna," Anna said, laughing a little as she looked to him. She pointed at a few small wires. "Could you keep those away from the spanner?"

Looking at where she pointed, Teevs nodded before kneeling next to her. He set his toolkit on the ground and grabbed something that almost looked like a two-pronged fork, and he used it to gather the wires and nudge them out of the way. "Can never be too careful around wires," he commented.

"There shouldn't be any power in them now," Anna reassured him, as she carefully positioned the spanner. "But I need clear access here." SHe made a few precise motions and then withdrew it. "That should be good. We can close this up."

That seemed simple enough. Teevs removed the tool holding the wires before he helped her close up the panel. "From what I recall from discussion during the staff meetings I have attended, you handle ship operations, correct?"

"I do, yes," Anna confirmed.

The panel clicked shut, and Teevs put his prong-shaped tool away. "Well, it is a pleasure to actually make your acquaintance," he commented with a smile. "Where to?"

"My office," Anna said. "So how do you find things so far?" She stopped and frowned. That was sort of a stupid question in context. "Horrific loss and violence aside," she added weakly.

Gesturing for her to lead the way, Teevs followed before she had stopped. "There is always something new to learn on this ship," he commented, offering a slight smile to try and smooth over the awkwardness.

"That's good to hear," Anna said, relaxing. "How different is it from what you're used to?"

"Oh, quite," he answered, adjusting the kit strap over his shoulder. "Your Federation unites species in a way that isn't really seen in this galasy. For instance, the only place you'd really see multiple species on one vessel is at a station. It's very rare to see more than one species on a starship, let alone multiple other species."

"My parents were of different species," Anna volunteered.

That was one of the many things Teevs found fascinating about the people on board; not that ot happened, but how surprisingly common it was. "Oh? Which species, if you don't mind my curiosity?"

"Human and Ardanan," she informed him.

"Fascinating," Teevs commented, stepping over some rubble. "Tell me more about the Ardanans. Is their planet far from Earth? What is the culture like?"

"Evolving," Anna said, not entirely usefully. "There is a great emphasis on art, beauty, and philosophy," she said, "but, up until a little over a century ago, they were largely reserved for an elite while most of our people worked to mine our planet's greatest natural resource, zenite. It has great health effects for plants. It's the cure to some especially nasty blights. Before the replicator, it was pretty valuable. How about your homeworld?"

Curiosity had Teevs make a mental note to look up zenite later. He wasn't sure if it was a rock or a plant, but if it had bealth benefits then it was a fascinating resource to study. "Lonians place value on the technology we develop. Any developments must be done for the betterment of society, so it is strictly regulated but for good reason." The pair arrived at her office, which happened to sport a sparking LCARS nearby that was in need of repair. "Art and culture are also important parts of our society. You should see the end-of-year celebrations," he finished with a chuckle.

"What are the end of year celebrations like?" Anna asked as she took a knee next to the sparking LCARs. She scanned it briefly and moved to a nearby control, adjusting it so that the sparks stopped. It wasn't fixed. Just no longer getting power while she worked. She pulled out a tool and got to work reconnecting the damaged wiring.

Teevs kneeled down next to her to help, following instructions as they were provided. "Lots of food," he answered with self-amusement. "There is a solar flare event from the star that happens about once per orbit of our planet. It is common to see people wagering on the precise time the flare occurs. Many of the other festivities centre around reflection on the year that has passed." As if remembering something, he added, "well, a Lonian year. That for you is about once every three years."

"Oh, we sort of do that," Anna admitted, "but it's mostly aimed at the year ahead. Moving forward. Things we want to do differently. The summing up of the previous year tends to happen a bit earlier."

"Ah, I think I remember the celebrations," Teevs said with a nod. He remembered some kind of mass celebration that involved counting down. He was still finding pieces of confetti around his quarters. Or at least, while his quarters still existed. The damaged wiring popped angrily at them. "Lonians are storytellers, we believe that reflecting on the past allows us to see our paths into the future. Telling stories shares both lessons and moments, and it creates a strong sense of community."

"That actually sounds like a good way to think of it," Anna said. She frowned as the wires popped. "We shouldn't work on this while it has power," she said as she moved to a nearby console to shut it off. Only then did she kneel and begin reconnecting and resealing the places where the wires were broken. She sighed. "I imagine we'll be doing a lot more of this."