Bouncing Around

Posted on 17 Apr 2018 @ 6:55pm by Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd
Edited on on 17 Apr 2018 @ 7:55pm

1,830 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: S02 Episode 3: When Realities Collide (Incidentals)
Location: Taggert's Quarters, Corridors, Engineering
Timeline: Mission day 67-8

[ON]

- Taggert's Quarters -

Nicci was sleeping soundly in her quarters in a dream-filled sleep. She was having a usual dream, of having her old body before the Orion incident, and her family wondering where Taggert had been. It was so relaxing, she didn't want it to end, but all good things...

The jostle was jarring, as Nicci fell off the bed, jostling her chest out of her top and hitting her head on the floor. She hated her body sometimes. She was in bed short-shorts and a tank-top, with a Starfleet arrowhead on them. Her hair tussled from sleep and she had a mild headache from the drop.

"What the hell?" she asked to no one in particular.

She reached up and tapped her commbadge on the bedside table, =/\= Bridge, Taggert. What happened?=/\=

=/\=Ensign Shane, ma'am,=/\= came to the response. She hated being called ma'am. =/\=We went through some kind of spatial anomaly. The Jem'Hadar attacked, but we managed to get the shields up. The captain and XO are on the way up.=/\=

=/\=Understood. I'm getting to engineering, stat,=/\= Taggert said as she closed the line.

Ignoring the headache, she adjusted herself so she wasn't spilling out of her top, and brushed her teeth, and ran out with her commbadge attached to her PJs, intent on getting to engineering. The situation was too important to worry about changing clothes, and her mind completely forgot to get a uniform or even shoes on.

- Engineering -

The crew was bustling and more were coming in, working on damage control and power rerouting.

Some of the crew noticed her sleepwear, but they were too busy to dwell.

"Southern, Johnson, status?" she asked as she got to the main floor's 'pool table' and pulled up an overview.

"Shields at 89%, ma'am," Southern said in her alto, no-nonsense tone. She had the late shift now, and was going to be off soon, but stayed on due to the attack.

"Warp engines having power distribution issues, but antimatter containment stable," Johnson said. "Impulse fluctuating."

"The main computer having a power fluctuation," Tjaansz reported. She was also in her PJs, which was a new sight for Nicci. Teela's tail swished at her agitated emotional state.

"Southern, take Anderson, Jones, and Machado and reinforce antimatter containment," Taggert said, prioritizing things in her head. "Johnson, work with Powell, Nelson, and Pril. Get those engines stabilized by the time the Chief gets in."

Teela looked on, waiting for orders. "Teela, make sure sensors are stable, then get the main computer righted. We need to see what's out there and be able to handle all that information coming in. Then make sure weapons and shields are at peak."

"You got it, ma'am," Teela said as she grabbed two damage control experts. She saw their eyes go down and gave them a smack on the arms. "Eyes up top, crewman. Let's go."

Nicci smiled and chuckled, but looked down at her own lack of uniform, and decided it may be good to get clothes on soon, but she wanted to get things ready so Dodd wouldn't have to worry about the ship when he came in. Her bare toned legs were on display when she was usually found in uniform, which could be distracting to others.

As she worked on directing DCTs (Damage Control Team), Dodd came in, wearing his sweatpants and carrying his commbadge in hand. He stopped to read a report on the master situation display, before finding her.

"Hey, Nicci. Great you are here getting things in order, that makes me feel better. I see you didn't bother freshening up for the situation, either," Dodd stated as he noticed she was not in uniform but that she had more clothing on than he did.

"Thank you, sir," she nodded in acknowledgement. "I was too worried about us getting blown up to stop to get some clothes," she chuckled. "Luckily I do have a top on," she said, looking at his bare chest. "We've got DCTs on the engines, and antimatter containment, computers, shields, and weapons. Shields at 85% but improving; engines at 75% overall, but Johnson's team is working it now. Weapons are stable but two torpedo tubes, one fore, one aft, are having trouble with the plasma transfer conduits. I had Tjaansz get the sensors first, then the computer. I thought it best to make sure information was coming in case of battle, and then that the computer would be able to handle the load."

"I appreciate the update and you stepping up to the situation," Dodd added. "Don't worry, You are handling it smoothly. I will step into my office and get a uniform on and then come out to relieve you."

Dodd entered his office to get dressed and read a report he saw on his desk monitor. Then he came out and preceded to take over his department to let Taggert get dressed.

"Feel free to use my office to replicate a uniform if you don't want to go all the way back to your quarters," Dodd offered to Taggert.

"Thank you, sir," she said with a smile, as she noticed she was still in her underwear, essentially, and showing quite a bit of cleavage in her sleep tanktop. She had forgotten about it in her efforts to try to get the damage control coordinated. "I guess I'd be less distracting if I had more clothes on."

"Hey, I am fine if you want to keep working the way you are. You are in control and working the situation. However, I can sense what some of the crew are thinking and I think they all need a smoke break for those thoughts if you know what I mean," Dodd added. "Go on to my office and while you are in there, get yourself something to eat. I can tell you are hungry."

Nicci took a look at her cleavage and realized she was poking out a little due to the temperature. "Crap! I think you're right, Chief. I'll be right back," she said as she walked to the office so she could change. She was sure she looked great both coming and going. She knew how men thought from very personal experience.

As Taggert left the main floor of engineering, Dodd reviewed all the data coming in to pool table. Repairs were either finished or in progress, the systems of the ship had basically been restored and Taggert was the cause of it all. Dodd was grateful to have such a person as his assistant. Dodd redirected a few of the DCT's to assist in finishing repairs in those areas that still needed more help.

Machado was coming back from working on the antimatter containment system and approached Dodd.

"Lieutenant, I wanted to say that Taggert was great under the pressure even if she was a bit underdressed," Machado stated with a huge smile. "However, she does have respect from almost all of the engineering staff which played in her favour."

"What do you mean almost all of the engineering staff?" Dodd questioned.

"Well, I overheard two of the plasma techs, and they were snickering about her attire and what they would enjoy from her," Machado answered. "I wanted to let you know as I think she is almost as great to work for as you are and I respect her to report their actions to you, sir."

"I appreciate your forthcoming and I will address this. Please send me a message with their names and I will see that they are reprimanded and dealt with," Dodd firmly to his friend.

In the Chief Engineer's office, Taggert took her night clothes off, and tossed them into the chair and ordered a fresh uniform, and a brush for her hair, and started dressing in some nice, fresh clothes. She brushed, washed her face, and tapped the controls for toothbrush and toothpaste, then brushed her teeth in his small in-wall sink. She'd shower as soon as the situation normalized.

As Nicci tied her hair up into a ponytail, she grabbed a bagel with bacon, egg, and cheese on it from her own programmed menu. It was wrapped so it wouldn't gather crumbs all over, and she got a small mug with a lid on it for some coffee.

She walked out the picture of a Starfleet officer. Even without makeup, which she often did only lightly, she looked good.

"Alright Chief, let's get this ship back up to snuff," she said.

"Great, Damage Control Teams seem to be moving right along in getting repairs done. Propulsion seems to be restored to full now as well. Hull integrity seems to be back to 100% and all inertial dampeners are restored," Dodd replied. "You were right on top of the key systems and I do appreciate you wanting to get the ship in order. I am thinking maybe we need to work on the deflector dish and the sensor array to make them more durable if we should get attacked again. Also, the EPS relays in the mess hall seem to be reporting a malfunction, but that is the least of my concerns now."

"Understood," she said, looking at the pool table's master situation diagram, showing the flashpoints and areas reporting troubles. There was a dorsal view, side view, and front view of the ship, which merged and showed cutaways with internal coordinates of where the systems were having troubles and showed where Dodd wanted to shore things up. "We can get Southern, Pril, and another five down to deflectors, and Teela with Johnson, Machado and Heather Wilson on over to the forward sensors and re-enforce the EPS and data conduits. Those two groups seem to work well together. Since we're in uncharted territory it may be good to try increasing range or if we have some hull fragments from whoever attacked us, we can try setting sensors to alert us to that kind of hull signature."

"Glad you agree with that and I like your ideas. Let's get some of your ideas into action and the rest will all fall into place as things move forward. I don't want the Dominion to catch us by surprise again," Dodd stated.

"Likewise, Chief," Taggert said, rubbing the back of her head. "Not my favourite way to wake up in the morning, that's for sure."

"Well, I will say that I am surprised not more of the crew got injured with that wake-up call. I will have a bruise on my side in the morning from the hit I took this morning," Dodd added in sync.

"Me too," Nicci replied in a friendly tone. "I'll just suck it up like a big girl," she glanced down at herself and chuckled inwardly, since she was obviously a 'big girl,' and continued, "since we've got more important things to take care of. Let's finish up, Chief."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Remington Dodd
Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

Lt. Jg Nicole Taggert
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

 

RSS Feed