Reporting for Duty

Month 16 Day 4

2329 Hours

Ivy Wilson

Ivy frowned as she re-entered the dimly lit female barracks. If Mac doesn't get up now, she won't make it to engineering in time to relieve Smythe.

Mac's bed began to beep, just as the redhead emerged from the bathroom. "I'm up," she said softly, and the beeping stopped.

"Are you ready for another extended shift?" Ivy asked as Mac padded down the aisle between the beds.

"Do I wear yesterday's uniform again?"

"No, I left a fresh one on the foot of your bed."

"I see it. I hope it fits."

"It's one of yours. Put yesterday's in the packaging, and it'll get shipped back to the Fireball for cleaning."

"Thanks. Nobody ever told me things like that." She paused in opening her package. "Illumination full," Mac said and smiled as the room brightened. "Now I can see what I'm doing." She removed her fresh uniform from the plastic and began to put it on, paused to take a sip from the glass of water sitting on her bedside table. She grunted. "That's gotten strong."

Ivy picked up Mac's discarded uniform. "How does water get strong?" She started stuffing the laundry into the plastic bag.

"It's ginger tea. A pick-me-up."

"You're going to need it. You don't have time for the mess hall."

"Wasn't planning on it," Mac answered, and sat down on the bed to put her boots on, took another sip of her tea.

"You're going to wish you had before our shift gets done," Ivy warned her.

"I'll survive," Mac growled, and started putting her hair up. "Sorry, Ivy, I don't mean to snap. But my schedule is very messed up. My body is out of sorts."

"As long as you don't snap at the St Elmo people."

"Baker isn't supposed to be there when I am." Mac stood up, her glass of tea in her hand. "Okay, I'm ready. What do I do with my old uniform?"

"I packed it," Ivy told her, and led her to the small lobby. "This table by the door is where we leave our dirty uniforms, and this afternoon, a fresh one will have arrived. You'll just need to find yours." They left, headed for the lift.

"Thanks, Ivy. This is a new situation for me."

"It's been a while since I was in an emergency work party," Ivy told her friend. "Mr Smythe told me to set up your bed for extra gravity, and I thought there'd be things nobody's told you about. So I'm glad he's got us working together."

"Just don't let me take a swing at Baker," Mac muttered as they got on an empty lift.

"He rubs me the wrong way, too," Ivy returned.

When they exited the lift, they found Lt Jamison. He looked at the glass Mac carried and frowned. "You can't take an open glass of liquid into engineering." Pink flags of color lit up his cheeks. "Sorry. That's one of Mr Facchini's rules. Maybe it's different under Mr Smythe."

"Not really," Ivy answered. "Can you help her out? Mac didn't bring a mug from the Fireball."

"Ahh, sure. Hang on." He disappeared through a doorway, then reappeared with a mug, which he offered to Mac. "Borrowed it. When you're done, take it to the mess hall for washing, and it'll be sent back to him."

"Thank you." Mac transferred the pungent liquid, then put the lid on the mug.

When they entered engineering, Smythe looked up from a console to give them a brilliant smile, despite his tiredness. "There you are!" He walked over and took hold of Mac's shoulders. "Did you get any sleep?"

The only time I see that smile on Smythe's face is when he's looking at Mac.

"Yes," Mac answered, and gently removed his hands. "Thank you for making sure I had a proper bed."

"You'd soon be of little use on this project if you couldn't get some decent sleep. So, let's all go to the office, and I'll brief the 3 of you on what's been done and what I see needs to be done next." Once in the office, Smythe stood behind the desk, which put the wall chronometer in front of him. He sighed. "Colleen, I told you to relieve me at midnight, not before."

Mac nodded. "Since I'm relieving you, it's my duty to arrive early enough to be briefed before I actually take over."

Smitty gave a faint grin. "Well, you're here now. And I can't fault you for showing up early, as long as you can handle a 12-hour shift."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Try to take coffee breaks and a meal break," he went on. "You, too, Wilson."

"Yes, sir."

"We're still waiting for reports from the labs, but I've removed the remaining power relays from here in engineering, and they look like melted sludge. It's obvious they didn't work the way they were intended, so I've got fabrication making new ones of the old design. At least I know the old design works." He indicated 2 piles of papers on the desk, one much taller than the other. "I've had people run diagnostics on every system. Now they've started tearing the systems apart, one by one, and replacing every questionable piece. This tall stack," he indicated the pile closest to the office door, "still need to be done. The short stack has been done. Remember that, and don't get them confused."

"Did you get any useful information from Oakhurst?" Mac asked, and sipped from her mug.

Smythe gave a short nod. "What he's provided so far seems to confirm what I already suspected. When the power relays started to fail, Stin—Mr Facchini went to the warp alcove to shut things down. From the looks of it, those crystals exploded in his face, just as he shut the power off. That stopped the north nacelle from experiencing a full explosion, but the port and starboard were too far gone. What it means for us is several days of hard labor rebuilding all the systems. So just keep plodding along. Give people a pat on the back when they finish a system, make a big deal out of taking that system off its backup."

Ivy nodded. "Make each small goal an accomplishment to keep burn-out and fatigue at bay."

"Exactly. I've got the Fireball's fabrication making new bulkheads to replace the ruined sections of the nachelles. So, if you can, find some EV workers and send them to remove the damaged sections. Cut them up and send them to the Fireball as raw material."

"I can think of 3 people who are well trained in EV work, sir, if you want my input," Jamison offered.

"Good," Smythe agreed. "Leave the warp alcove alone for now. I saw some cracked pipes in there, pipes that carry nasty stuff, so I'll deal with that when I'm on duty. Now, can you remember all that?" They nodded, and he smiled. "Good. Now, Wilson, relieve me, please."

Surprised, Mac uttered, "What? Wait..."

"Mr Smythe, you are relieved," Ivy stated formally. "Come on, Jamison." She pulled the St Elmo lieutenant out of the office with her.

"There, we've got 2 minutes before you go on duty," Smythe said behind them.

"Not enough time," Mac answered.

"Can't you at least give me a clue what it's about?"

"Not without..." The voices faded behind them as they moved away from the still-open office door.

"Um, do you mind if I ask?" Jamison started. "I know it's none of my business."

"They were engaged, not long ago," Wilson stated softly. "He still wants to be. This ensign we're approaching looks confused. How do you suggest we handle her?"

"She always looks confused, but once you start talking about what she's doing, she knows what to do. I'll handle it."