How many tons????

Posted on Tue Aug 5th, 2014 @ 2:40am by Lieutenant William O'Donnell

Mission: Insecurities
Location: Main Engineering/Cargo Bay 2

"Sir, there is a few freighters outside with about four hundred tons of tritanium plating apparently for the hole in the side of the star base." A young engineering officer said approaching William.

"Aye, tell them ta bring it in." William said partially ignoring the officer whilst studying a PADD. William had sewn together many a starship with nothing more than a laser welder and some scrap alloy. Unfortunately whoever put the large hole in the side of this Starbase left nothing for scrap and given the vast resources William would not cut corners and simply stitch this place back together. William had avoided getting into details about the occurrences leading up to the damage as one, the fix was the same irregardless and he did not want to bring back the demons of the past to this crew. He knew what they were going through, he had walked a mile in those shoes before. He had yet to meet the Captain, seeing the damage had brought back demons of his own, as if he was ashamed to face her.

"Sir, where exactly would you like them to drop four hundred tons of metal?" the young officer asked again wondering if the Chief was even listening or simply lost his mind.

"In the cargo bays...where ye put cargo." O'Donnell replied giving the kid a scowl wondering how 'new' he was.

"Shouldn't we contact Lieutenant Deakin first?" the officer replied hesitantly worrying of the consequences of crossing the Chief whom had already gained quite a reputation.

William sighed and tapped his commbadge. "O'Donnell to Deakin."

There was no answer for several moments. He secretly knew he would not get an answer knowing exactly where Deakin was. "I guess Lieutenant Deakin doesn't mind. Get it into tha cargo bay." he stated returning to his PADD.

The young man did not move for several moments. He wasn't sure what to do. He could have sought out the assistant operations chief, the Captain, ANYONE but instead he seemed hellbent on ticking off Deakin.

O'Donnell looked back up from his PADD to see the kid still standing there. He rolled his eyes and walked over to an engineering station retrieving a laser welder and a panel. He approached the officer and handed him the tool and panel. "Here ye go, get ta work, but I be thinkin' yer gonna need a few more of those."

"What do you want me to do with these sir?" the bewildered officer exclaimed.

"Well since ya seem so insistent of leavin' tha plating out of the cargo bay, ye can either grab a zero-G suit and drag it here or use what ye have. I expect ta see progress by the end of tha day. Ye should have about zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero one percent of that hole covered and that's if ye can find more of them panels." William replied flatly returning once again to his PADD but this time with a smirk on his face.

"I think I'll just let them in." the man said staring at the items William gave him.

"I think that be a wise decision." O'Donnell shot back. "I will be down into the cargo bay shortly, please oversee the transfer."

The young man nodded and began to walk away.

"Hey kid." William called out.

The young officer turned around looking to William once again confused.

"Ye can put those back over there. Ye won't be needin' them. Besides I won't have the side of this star base looking like a quilt."

[[Cargo Bay Two, Thirty Minutes Later]]

The freighters had began to offload the plating into the vast cargo bays of the Starbase. The young officer worked with the Freighter staff ensuring all the cargo was accounted for. He felt at first as though he was going to dread the assignment and Deakin's reaction but none of that mattered when the cargo began to arrive. Suddenly he began to see the bigger picture and the new hope for the broken hub. The Starbase had become considerable less lively since the attack. Large portions of the Starbase were unusable and now this new Chief Engineer seemed to be on a mission to change that. Perhaps the Captain had hired just the right man despite his temper.

"Isn't it beautiful?" O'Donnell asked the young officer.

"Aye. You really are gonna try and fix this?" the officer replied.

"Try?" William said with a scoff. "Lad I'm damn well gonna fix this. Yer Starbase here is gonna look as good as new."

The kid couldn't help but smile, there hadn't been a lot to smile about lately.

"And on that day, we will celebrate with tha best alcohol this universe has ta offer." William continued.

"Romulan Ale?" the kid asked.

"Nay! Jesus do ya think i be some kind of bootlegger?" William exclaimed.

The kid shrugged. "Kind of crossed my mind."

William laughed. "Aye, I be havin' some Romulan Ale but that nay be what we will have. We will drink Scotch Whiskey!!!" He raised his arm in the air as if giving an imaginary toast.

"You know Lieutenant Deakin is gonna kill you sir." he replied.

William snickered once again. "I look forward to it, but not before I fix the hole."

As the two looked one, the cargo bay continued to fill with the tritanium plating.

"We're gonna need another cargo bay sir." the kid noted.

"Number one will do just fine." William responded.