Getting Permission (Part 2)

Month 10 Day

0807 Hours

Jane Burke

Previously:

“She’ll get used to working with me; she’s on my team for this project.”

What? Jane stared at him for a long time. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He opened his mouth to speak, and she held up a finger to stop him. “Do I have to remind you that after she and Kolla were separated, she was so confused about the 2 technologies that she had to spend several days separating them into ‘theirs’ and ‘ours’? I don’t want her to get confused like that again. She needs to concentrate on our technology, not theirs.”

“Captain, she’s the only one aboard who has any first-hand knowledge - granted, that knowledge exists as Kolla’s memories - of Yukosk technology. Colleen’s already been involved in adapting our technology to fit the needs of their technology. Frankly, if we’re to make any sense of that manual at all, we need her on the team. If Abdulla or Wilson - any of us, really - get any inkling that she’s getting the 2 technologies confused, we can stop what we’re doing, and get her straightened out again. And I promise you that’s exactly what we’ll do!”

But how would Abdulla or Wilson know... “Wait a minute. Exactly who is on this team you’ve put together?”

He blinked, apparently surprised she didn’t already know. “Myself. Colleen. Abdulla and Wilson. And Takor.”

“Takor?”

“Colleen brought him in to try to help us understand the biochemistry aspect. He asked to be included in the project.”

I did hear MacDowell talking to Takor at shift change a few days back. I thought she was inviting it to an early holiday party or something. Never make assumptions, I guess. 3 women. From 3 different shifts! She smiled in amusement, wondering if Smitty realized what he’d done. “Smitty, your team comes from all 3 shifts. How do you propose to accommodate that?”

“By doing it off-duty. We all expect it to be a long-term project. As it happens, Colleen and Wilson both sleep during B shift, and they both have Mondays off, so we’ll meet on Monday evenings.”

I have to admit, it would be a feather in all our caps if we came up with a working version of the Yukosk transportation beam. Smitty doesn’t need any more fame; he just sees this as some new engineering project to wrap his head around, but I assume all 3 ladies would be glad to put something like that on their resume. Even I wouldn’t mind having that project associated with the Fireball.

“Fine,” she decided. “But I have conditions. First, once the work actually begins; once you aren’t just consulting the manual and trying to figure out where and how to start, everybody wears a uniform while working on the project, but they can choose a D class uniform, if they like.

“Second, I want regular updates on what progress is being made. Thirdly, I also want regular updates on what MacDowell has learned about human starship engineering. Since you are meeting on Monday evenings, I’ll expect these updates sometime on Tuesday-” Hope I didn’t just negate one of his days off. She stopped and turned to her yeoman, seated in her own corner. “What are Smythe’s days off?”

“Wednesdays and Thursdays,” Blossom responded.

“Good. then Tuesdays will work,” Jane stated. Now, lastly... where are you planning to build this thing?”

“I was thinking of Dec 10, Meeting Room 51F.”

“Is that one of those long meeting rooms that never seems to get used?”

“It is.”

“Good. Book it for the foreseeable future and have at it.”

“Thank you, captain.”

Smitty had stood up and started to turn when Jane remembered something. “Don’t forget, Smitty, MacDowell still has other projects, besides this one and studying. And she also deserves a social life and decent sleep, so don’t let her get completely caught up in one or two things to the detriment of others.”

“Ahhh, that reminds me.”

“Of what?”

“She was asking if she could continue to study while on duty. Now that she has something to study again.”

Jane felt a gurgle of laughter well up her throat and firmly tamped it down. Give her a chance and there’s no stopping her. “It hasn’t disrupted the performance of her duties so far. So if that meets with your approval, I agree.”

“Thank you, captain. That way, as a bonus, if she has any questions she wants answered immediately, she can ask the engineer on bridge duty.”

“Who is on bridge duty on her shift?” And whoever it is, does he trust them as well as he says he trusts Abdulla and Wilson?

“Most nights it’s Xylander. When it’s not him, it’s Eggers. If they can’t answer her question, they know enough not to try.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought it out,” she returned, and turned on her computer. So he doesn’t trust them quite the same as Abdulla or Wilson, but enough to know they won’t confuse her. She paused for a moment to consider the redhead and the rocky road she’d traveled since arriving on this ship. She certainly takes the road less traveled, that one.