Distribution of Power

Posted on Fri Sep 6th, 2019 @ 6:38pm by Commander Daynah Ral & Lieutenant Day Smith
Edited on on Thu Sep 12th, 2019 @ 9:52am

1,421 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: New Beginnings
Location: Science lab, Deck 2

Day looked on her PaDD with the recent changes in the Valiant's latest refit. Someone had thought it had been a good idea to cram a science lab into the confines of the Defiant class hull. She stood in front of the door and took in a deep breath. There had been an awful lot of social encounters today, a bit too many for her, but that was part of living on such a small vessel and also in her role as Chief Operations. She stepped into the proximity of the door's sensors and with their familiar hiss the doors opened and allowed her entrance, she looked around to find the person listed on the manifest as the Chief Science, "Lieutenant Commander Ral?" She spoke loudly enough for the people in the room to all hear her.

Daynah had been sitting at the small astrophysics console. She was planning the first experiment to measure the exact temperature at a given moment within a suns corona. Her thoughts were that if she could measure that she could better the ability of Starships to maneuver close to stars. She was deep in thought when her assistant shook her. "Hey ole man someone is here to see you." Daynah was sufficiently jarred to her sense and saw the ship's Ops Chief standing in the doorway.

Daynah smiled warmly as she stood up. "Lieutenant Smith, welcome to the science lab what can I do for you?"

Walking over to the woman that had responded, and passing the other one that had looked up and then over into the corner where Daynah was situated, Day offered her hand in greeting. The metallic remnants of her Borg modifications still visible, one of the major reasons she didn't like to shake hands. But she had been told, numerous times, that it was part of the Federation culture and that it was 'weird' if you didn't, "Pleasure to meet you, Commander."

"And I you Lieutenant. What brings you to Valiant's Science Labs?" Daynah said as she pulled her hair back into a bun. The lack of sleep combined with the amount of work it took to get the lab running was beginning to get to her. But she soldiered on, like a good officer should. Daynah noticed the Borg implants and a part of her twinged on the inside. She could only imagine what Day goes through.

"The Defiant class is not designed for extensive scientific assignments. Yet the charter for the Valiant includes a large emphasis of scientific endeavours. Which results in a bit of a..." Day didn't want to say it was a problem, mostly because she knew how negative that would make it sound, "challenge. From a power distribution perspective I'd like to go over your subsystems and prioritize them so I know which ones to shut down if the need arises."

"Not a problem, that is a wise and prudent course of action. We are the test bed to see if a ship built for war can find service in a time of peace. On the Valiant a lot of her weapons systems were removed to make room for augmented sensor pallets and the like. Let's compare notes, what did you have in mind." Ral had been both a scientist and and engineer and as such Daynah knew the issues that can arise for doing what they were attempting to do now.

It was odd to have the current state of the Alpha quadrant be referred to as a time of peace, Day was sure that it would look like it in the grand scheme of things but the flaring tensions between the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingons put the Federation in a weird position, "I have a couple of scenarios where I feel all of the power should be removed from secondary systems. With all of the recreational facilities and the science lab designated as such a secondary system." She handed the PaDD over which basically outlined the idea that from the moment a yellow alert was sounded all power would be routed away fully from the science labs.

"Hmmmm..." Daynah muttered as she examined the report. It was fine work but there was one exception. She handed Day a PADD of her own. "What I have done here in the lab is divide each console up as if it was it's own laboratory. This way multiple fields of research can be done in one lab. In your plan this whole room would go dark, however, that will not do. There will come times during a yellow or red alert that the science lab is going to be needed to assist in the task at hand. So what I propose is shut down everything here with exception of the station in front of me. Label this station Science emergency access." Daynah smiled hoping to disarm the Chief Operations, this was a good compromise or so Daynah thought.

For a moment Day looked over the different projects assigned to the different science stations, she wondered what situation would need a science lab to function, but she could concede running one station on minimum capacity, "That sounds reasonable." She held out the PaDD to exchange them back over, so that both of them had their own PaDD back, "So what is it you hope to find on our expeditions, Commander?" She looked up briefly from her notes, small talk was expected from colleagues, or so she had been told.

Daynah smiled, it was a smile that could light up the room, she beamed. "Please call me Daynah, I had my fill of being addressed by rank back when I was Alaryc. I am hoping to find the unfindable out there. I know that sounds cliche but it is true. I am simply excited to explore. Plus we get to show the fleet that anything can be reborn and into a better purpose."

A small raise of the eyebrow at that, "I will try to remember that, Comm..." Internally she chided herself, "Daynah." She knew all about being reborn, "in my experience not everyone is as welcoming to rebirth." She remembered the sting of the punch on her jaw but could resist raising her hand to touch it.

"That is true... I guess I just take naturally to the concept of rebirth. Ral has been reborn countless times and I have all of his memories. So it is something that I take comfort in." Daynah realized there might have been more to what the Lieutenant meant. "I am sorry... What would make you say that people would be unwelcoming to rebirth."

Day realised that the person in front of her was a Trill, she knew that some of the Trill species carried inside them an entity, in some sort of parasitic bond, "When I was liberated from the collective, I was told I had been given a second chance, a new life." She didn't quite know what to tell, or how to tell it, so there was an awkward pause as she gathered her thoughts, "There have been instances where my former life has resulted in adversarial interactions."

Daynah nodded that she understood the meaning. "I can see how that can happen. Some people cannot seperate the Drone from the person. That is something that I have been reading about." She paused for a moment as she smiled. "Well I can tell you that I see a person in front of me, one who I hope to call friend."

One of Day's eyebrows raised in a fashion typically reserved to the Vulcans, "I am not sure we can speak of friendship after only one interaction, but I appreciate the sentiment, Commander." She winced a bit at calling the woman by her rank again, "Sorry, Daynah." She really should be more vigilant of this.

"It's okay." Daynah said and she realized that it would be quite the challenge to get this person to open up and be less rigid. She decided that it would become her own personal challenge. She smiled and her whole face lit up. "Well consider this the start of a beautiful friendship."

Day gave a single nod in acknowledgement of that statement and tucked the PADD away behind her before stepping back and turning on her heels, leaving the room satisfied with the compromise they had made in regards to the power distribution in the Science bay.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Daynah Ral
Chief Science Officer

&

Lieutenant Day Smith
Chief Operations Officer

USS Valiant

 

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