Tomcat upgrades - Luncheon

Posted on 31 May 2024 @ 1:43pm by Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant Commander Paul Sharpe & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley & Staff Sergeant Lilliana Hawksley

3,547 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: General Sim Postings
Location: Various/ Sharpe/somers Quarters
Timeline: Current

[ON]

As the pair finished for the day and with a time set they went their separate ways to their respective quarters as he walked Paul tapped his Commbadge =/\= Sharpe to Somers =/\= he started.

=/\= What is it, Paul? =/\= Alex responded back.

=/\= We have guests coming for dinner, Lieutenant Hawksley and possibly his wife =/\=

=/\= You've not been on the Station long and already inviting work comrades, good to see you are practising your emotions =/\= Alex teased and she heard a restrained sigh.

=/\= If Hawksley's wife comes with him she is pregnant so be ready with food prep, I mentioned fresh food, not the replicated stuff =/\= Paul said and heard his wife growl.

=/\= Well it will have to be salad then and some dessert, leave it with me, Somers out =/\= the line went silent.

Paul sighed and entered the lift after the doors closed he spoke his designation and the lift whisked him to it, twenty minutes later he stepped out onto his accommodation level, as his quarters were only temporary, so they were not two levels only one.

- Sharpe/Somers quarters -

Paul arrived and entered his quarters to see a table laid out and some plates and cutlery on it as were some drinking glasses, and a jug of water, but there was also a bottle of white and Red wine, Paul kissed his wife and then paid attention to his kids while Alex prepped food, he sucked at food prep, he relied too much on replicated foods, but always enjoyed real food when he could get it.

As the prep was completed their door buzzer sounded "Enter" Paul said from his seated position as he bounced his daughter on his knee.

- Hawksley - Lilliana's Quarters -

Hawksley didn’t think this was a huge deal. He dressed appropriately, casual business, which meant no khaki shorts or tee-shirts. He wore a nice pair of polished brown dockers, grey dress pants, and a grey sports coat. Waiting at the entrance to their bedroom, Lilli made Hawksley keep his eyes closed till she had come out of their bedroom dressed for their dinner date.

Lilli exited the bedroom wearing a pretty mid-length maternity dress. “So, how do I look?” She gave a little twirl.

“You look great. Common, let’s not keep the XO waiting.” Hawksley took Lilli’s hand and brought it up to his, kissing it just as they were leaving the quarters.

“You’re a charmer as always Imzadi” Lilli smiled warmly.

- Sharpe/Somers quarters -

As the Hawksleys entered, Alex being a gracious host smiled "Hello you pair, please enter, dinner will not be long so Lilli when are you due exactly?" Alex asked.

Sharpe stood with a smile and held out his hand to Leland "Do not look so nervous Leland, we are all different off-duty" he said, just then his twins came out, he smiled and crouched down as they showed him the picture they had drawn "Wow those are wonderful" he said and looked up "Lilli, Leland these are my kids Paul Sharpe Junior and Samantha Lynne Somers" he said introducing the pair, who had suddenly noticed the visitors and had suddenly become shy.

Lilli barely had the chance to answer Alex’s question when the twins appeared, she offered them a warm smile. “Those are lovely drawings, you’re both very talented.” She looked back at Alex. “I’m currently 16 weeks, only another 5 or so months to go, though Leland is wishing it was sooner.” She grinned a wry grin.

*smiling* "The kid will come when it comes, now if you will be seated food is ready" Alex said as a machine in the back pinged.

Leland was amused at seeing Sharpe's two young children rush out. As usual, the children became shy when they noticed there was company.

Leland leaned over to look at the picture drawn on the piece of paper. He couldn’t make out the crude scrawling. “Awesome pics, kids!” Hawksley held the picture, admiring it. There was something if you stared long enough!

Taking a seat at the table, Leland and Sharpe were the gentlemen and let seat the ladies, their wives first. Leland then took his cue to sit when Sharpe was taking him at the head of the table. Little pleasantries like this went a long way to show respect for a superior in human norms. Leland wanted to be at his best and was confident in his abilities should shop talk arise.

He took Lilli’s hand and grinned. “I can’t help it,” Leland replied to Lilli, his biceps shrugging in his sports jacket. "I see your children. You must be very proud of them, Paul and Alex.” Leland said.

Looking at it kids "Why don't you two go and play in your room" Paul said with a smile.

"Yes, Daddy," both said as one and trotted off, he looked up at Leland "We are, they are very well-behaved, when your mother is a marine and your father a former Security officer, kids tend to behave" Paul said with a smile as Alex entered with Paul's food, it was an 8 oz real steak and with it was some peas, potatoes.

As she put the food in front of Paul "Sorry forgot to ask are you meat eaters or vegetarians I have prepped for all possibilities?" Alex asked.

Lilli smiled politely. “I’m a meat eater, but I don’t mind whichever.”

Leland looked to Lilli and then back to Paul. “We are not picky. But we both eat meat, yes.” Wow. Paul certainly looked used to eating steak. He wasn’t beefy, just someone who wasn’t into a salad.

“We want to thank you again for having us over, into your home, your personal space. It is nice to be on a star base. They do offer advantages of larger quarters, if slightly.” He looked at Lilli and then at Paul. “We both are very comfortable with the quarters.”

"You are welcome but wait till you see the married quarters that the Tomcat will have, the Starbase ones will seem opulent compared to those," Paul said as Alex returned with two plates, both had a steak the same size as Paul's, but they had salad on them.

"There you both go, Steak Salad, you cannot beat freshly cooked food," Alex said as she left and returned with hers, she had the same as the Hawksleys, she paused stood up and went to get some red wine and glasses. she put a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon on the table and put a Wine flute next to each of them. "Go easy with the wine it is the real McCoy, there are still some vineyards on earth that still do this type of Red wine" Alex added as she began to eat.

“This looks delicious, thank you for all this.” Lilli smiled warmly as she looked towards Alex before she politely started eating her food.

Leland enjoyed his steak. It was cooked well and juicy. The thickness was precisely right, and there was a hint of seasoning. Enjoying it, he slowed, not wanting to look ravenous yet hungry. Lilli was an excellent cook, and so was he, so they were no strangers to freshly grown hydroponic vegetables.

Swallowed, he paused. “Excellent steak.” Leland Addressed Alex, the cook.

Alex smiled, this smile was genuine not business "Thank you, Leland, most people look at the Rifle Officer and think Jarhead, my combat file may be long but I was trained in the art of diplomacy and the events they entail and thus I was also taught how to cook by my mother, she can cook better than I, and you should see our holiday dinners, this meal is simple compared to those and all the vegetables are grown in the family garden, it is a large growing area as my ancestral home is essentially a mansion, we even have a Butler, organic one and a limited staff of maids, around twelve, they maintain the part of the house which is rarely used" Somers said suddenly feeling proud.

"I know it would not seem so considering my temper and vocation, but I would rather be on the front line of a battle than sitting in a nice cushy F.O.B directing the troops, did you know I was elevated from the ranks, I started off as an Enlisted Marine," Alex said as she took a mouthful of food.

Paul gave her one of his not again looks, but his wife chose to ignore it, he inwardly sighed, poured himself some wine and took a sip, then returned to eating.

Hawksley took the information in stride. He looked to Lilli and then back to Alex and Paul. The familial history of Alex’s family was impressive.

“That sounds very nice. Did you have lands to hunt any native wildlife?” Hawksley asked, slowly taking a sip of the wine, setting the glass back down slowly, and listening. Leland and his father used to hunt white-tailed deer in the backcountry.

Husband and wife looked at each other, then Alex answered as she looked at Leland "Yes my Family estate has six acres beside the initial household garden, our land has endangered wildlife in it, there is an acre devoted to fresh fruits and vegetables, one for livestock, yes my family has farmers, a small part are Prisoners from the Earth-based Federation Penal colonies, while the rest are those who like hard work. The rest of the areas not for Wildlife or farming are green fields maintained by automated drones and are usually used for major functions, our house is bit, but it is not that big. I believe that if we were in the 20th and early 21st Centuries, I believe my family would be classed as a wealthy influential family and I would be an Heiress, if the physical currency was still used I would be extremely rich and that does not include the Latinum we have" she paused.

"As we do not live in that time, I am still an Heiress, but my family's power now is influence, my parents are influential diplomats" Alex said and stopped.

"I, on the other hand, come from a modest background, my family home was a simple house, we had all the updated stuff, but at a young age I lost my parents and entered the Adoption system, I ended up doing some schooling on Vulcan, you could say Alex and I are like Romeo and Juliette, but without the tragic fate at the end, when I returned from Vulcan I had distant relatives look after me for a short time and I met Alex, love at first sight, now here we are married and with two children" Sharpe answered.

“True love is a wonderful thing” Lilli smiled as she looked towards Leland, then back at Alex and Paul. “I knew Leland was the one for me the first time we met.”

Leland blushed a bit. He held Lillis's hand at the side of the table for a moment, then broke it. He cleared his throat, though not loudly, speaking clearly: "Lilliana, my Imzadi. When our eyes met that first time, I couldn't let Lilli go from my sight."

Lilli couldn’t help but blush. “It was most definitely love at first sight!”

Alex and Paul shared a knowing look, and then Alex looked at Lilli. "Lilli, you do know that you may have to remain on the Starbase as you are close to your due date, but even if you are allowed on the ship for the next mission, you will not be allowed on the away mission. I hope you are aware of this." Alex asked.

Lilli nodded. “I know that will be the case in a few months, I’m only four months so I’ve still got a good five months before our baby is due.”

*Smiling* "Good as long as you know the score" Alex responded.

Paul excused himself "I will be right back, got to go check on the kids" he said taking his plate out to the kitchen area before heading to the kid's bedroom.

"I believe me and the Commander here will be working on the Tomcat for a long foreseeable future, just yet. But, when it's close to finish, things get going faster to completion." Leland waited till Paul had come back to sit down. Leland then got up and started to clear the plates and bring them back to the replicator.

"Paul, Sir." Leland surprised himself he hadn't asked this already. "What other Starship disassemble and upgrades have you overseen?"

*Looks at Leland* "Like you this is my first, before I worked on the Poseidon as its Chief Engineer and that ship is held together with Duct Tape and Promises, Starfleet wanted to upgrade the Tomcat as the area she works in her old configuration was geared to combat and support, with Starfleet trying to replenish its peacetime fleet with new more job-specific designs, those older ships like the Tomcat and older ships which can still be updated are being pulled in for upgrades. *pause* There were some upgrades and additions I wanted to add to the Poseidon. Still, due to the fact that the Miranda Class Vessel would need to be pulled into space dock and gutted. Its space frame strengthened and such, much like what is happening with the Tomcat at present would take at least Five-years and Captain Johnson did not want that, so the main upgrades I wanted to do could not be done," he paused to take a drink.

With the Tomcat moving to a Black Operations Section of the Fleet we had more freedom, so I took my new method for speeding up a ship Retrofit and upgraded to Starfleet Engineering, they looked it over and it was the first time ever I saw a genuinely surprised look on a Vulcan Commodores face, after being dismissed I waited for four hours and when I returned my method was granted and the plan of action for such a task would be implemented fleet-wide, ships needing lesser upgrades would take longer of course, but the method I proposed streamlined those processes and it is the ones we are using on the Tomcat. *pause* Why do you think the rebuild is on schedule Leland, the proposal was one that could be tailored to each ship class for efficiency but despite being on schedule the Tomcat had dings in its spaceframe that most other ships did not. After the Exocomps have done their duties you, me and a host of Starbase Engineers will be doing the fine-tuning and making sure all connections work properly and to make sure the Transverse emergency bulkheads will work as advertised" Paul said and took another sip of his drink

"Makes me glad I am not an engineer, also making bombs as a hobby sounds so much easier after that, having dealt with things on a Diplomatic Level to some extent with the Marines I know Paul did not have it as easy as he makes out with Starfleet Corps of Engineers Big Wigs," Alex said and Paul smiled and shrugged as he looked at Leland again.

"Upon getting assigned here I was asked to, no requested get a command team together for this, they showed me all the top engineers from every field in engineering and sciences and Medical, but I asked to see the service files of the Tomcat crew and I was impressed with yours Leland came to the Tomcat as CHO and was moved to Engineering as its Chief after Commander Dodd got promoted to First Officer since then you have done well for the ship and crew and that is why I said to the brass that I wanted only you on my team with the Exocomps doing the heavy lifting, there was also the fact as the ships Chief Engineer you will need to have a familiarity with the new and upgraded systems so you could train your staff, by the time the ship is completed she will have holo-emitters on every deck and with the improvement of computing tech she will have two Holograms, one will be the EMH the other will be the EEH, which reminds me at the ending of their mission I will need to speak to CMO and CSO *sighs* I know you wanted to be on this upcoming mission to Arth Leland, but your insights and skills are more important to what we are doing now and this will also be a feather in your cap as you will have that unique bond with a Starship other Engineers rarely have" Paul finished and fell silent.

Feeling isolated and left out can be incredibly tough, especially when surrounded by reminders of what you're missing out on. Leland was grappling with feeling disconnected from his colleagues and friends, who were off on this exciting mission to Arth.

Perhaps Leland could find solace in focusing on the importance of his role. Even though he may not be out exploring strange new worlds now, his work on the USS Tomcat is vital for ensuring the ship's continued functionality and readiness for future missions. He could take pride in knowing that his contributions, though different from those of his colleagues, are still meaningful and valuable to the success of the overall mission.

Retrofitting the USS Tomcat allowed him to learn and grow professionally, expanding his expertise in areas he might not have explored before. Leland immersed himself in the intricacies of Starship Engineering, seeking mentors or resources to help him become more proficient in his role.

“Thank you for having us; this was thoroughly enjoyable,” Hawksley said with a smile and a nod to Lilli, his wife.

“Very enjoyable indeed, we’ll return the favour sometime and have you all over to dinner with us.” Lilli smiled warmly.

*Smiling* "Not a problem, we rarely get a chance to entertain, so we are happy to," Alex said clearing up the dishes.

Looking at the pair then fixing his gaze on Leland "Leland two days from now meet me on holodeck four, I will have a surprise for you, but in regards to the Themistocles I hear tell that she will be assigned here after the current mission along with that refitted Nebula Class used during the Hydaransz mission you guys done, so you will have plenty of time to physically visit the Sovereign Class Engineering room. But two days from now come by you holodeck four as I said" Paul answered and smiled.

“Sounds intriguing” Lilli grinned. “I can’t wait to hear all about it once you’ve seen whatever it is.”

Leland was curious but guarded. Did this sound like fun? Cool! He would love to do some team-building exercises. Hawksley went through countless of them during the Federation Academy Days: the team building and holodeck exercises were always adrenaline-inducing.

Of course, Leland stepped up in the engineering roles. Secondly, in the Academy days, Leland was good at directing others in job tasks to restore a safe scenario.

“I'm not just interested. I'm intrigued. Count me in, Sir,” Hawksley declared, rising from his seat. Leland mirrored his enthusiasm, extending his hand for a friendly shake.

“I will have a sit rep available for all the station materials divisions in three days for you, Sir. This will help us further anticipate any production shortages or material delays. Starbase freight is not immune to delays and shortages, and starship manufacturing materials must be brought in from other resource colonies.

"The surprise will mostly be a solo event, after my bit you will be left to have fun, think of it as a gift of sorts, but also a taste of what could be in the future," Paul said cryptically, just as the kids began to cry out of sheer tiredness. Paul looks at Alex who nods, then back at the pair "Well we are going to have to end an otherwise interesting night, when the kids get like this it usually takes the two of us to get them to sleep, when neither of us is around it is usually Alex's parents *sigh* you have all this to look forward to Lilli" he said with a smile as he stood.

Lilli nodded. “No doubt we do. Well, it’s been a lovely evening, thank you so much for inviting us I’ve quite enjoyed it.” She looked towards Leland.

Leland smiled looking from Lilli to Paul and Alex. "Paul, Alex. Thank you for having us. Next time I cook." Leland grinned.

After getting up and parting ways, the evening was put to rest. Hawksley was still very curious about the Lt. Commander's surprise.

[OFF]

 

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