The heart of the ship

Posted on 08/01/2020 @ 7:26pm by Lieutenant JG Larissa Syndel
Edited on on 08/06/2020 @ 10:27am

Mission: S2E1: The Skunil Incident
Location: Main engineering
Timeline: Day 1 at 1500

Although the layout of a Luna class starship was intimately familiar to her Larissa decided to spend the afternoon exploring the ship, every ship still had it's little features slightly different from others of the same class even if they were built in the same shipyard by the same work crews. Reaching deck 11 she made her next stop engineering.

Stepping through the double doors she took in the pulsing heart of the crazy horse.

"You know, we are thinking of ripping it out and replacing it with either a hamster in a wheel, or maybe a single potato with a single electo sticking out of it." Said a voice from behind her.

"I hope not," Larissa turned towards the voice and saw a tall human Lieutenant. "Luna's are built with good strong hearts."

"That they are. And sometimes they are as stubborn and as pig headed as the engineers who cater to them." Then Xander extended his hand. "Xander Cash, I'm that pig headed stubborn one."

"They certainly can be," Larissa took Xanders hand and shook it. "Larissa Syndel, the new chief Ops."

"Nice. Your new here? So am I. How are you making out with it?" He asked.

"Considering I arrived 30 minutes before we left the starbase, I've only been here about 18hrs, went straight to duty and have had maybe an hour to get settled in...... not too bad." Larissa replied.

"Wow." Said Cash. "I spent my first 24 hours on this ship in the brig." He said smiling. But absolutely serious.

Larissa chuckled slightly. "Now that's a story I'd like to hear."

Cash giggled. "Certainly not one of my best moments. But, absolutely not my worst." Cash cleared his throat. "So, you like warp cores?" He asked.

"It's the beating heart of the ship, if it goes down the ship begins to die, I get to decide where a lot of its blood goes." Larissa explained.

"That's a unique way of looking at it." Said Cash. "I guess that would make me it's Doctor. Only I can put in a whole new heart from another donor. Call me, Dr Frankenstein?" He asked jokingly.

"Dr Frankenstein?" Larissa replied not recognising the name.

"It's a very old novel by an author called Mary Shelly. It's about a Dr who creates life from the recently departed. Life, from lifelessness." Said Cash. "It was quite the suspense novel back in the Victorian era."

"Sounds like an interesting story, I might have to take a look at it." Larissa smiled slightly.

"Yes, it was quite the story. She actually wrote it on a dare. It was a competition between herself, her husband and Lord Byron." Said Cash looking into Larissa's eyes.

Larissa shook her head. "I'm not familiar with them either, Ancient earth literature is not my strong point though I like some of the music of your 20th and 21st centuries."

"Nice. Ever heard of a composer called Elvis Presley?" Asked Cash.

She smiled again, "I have, his music is very good."

"Wow" Said Cash. "Most people have no idea. No accounting for taste I guess."

"Us Orions appreciate good music, good food, good friends, good....." She hesitated slightly before her mouth got the better of her not wanting to say what she was thinking of.

"Good......company?" Cash said trying to help her finish that thought.

"Something like that." She flashed him a sly smile. It wasn't quite what she was going to say but his was more appropriate.

Cash turned back to the warp core. "You seem like you can appreciate something I found in my last assignment. Come with me." Cash said, walking into his office.

Her curiousity peaked Larissa followed Cash towards his office.

He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a crystal shard. "My last assignment was tearing apart derelict ships at the Federation scrapyard at Tellar Prime. I was in charge of the team tearing down the old USS Victorious. And I was in her engine room. When upon ripping out the bulk head of a storage area, I found this." Cash handed her a small dilithium crystal shard. "It's to small to use here. But still, still beautiful. Now you have the power of the heart."

Larissa took the shard of dilithium, it was small but flawlessly formed. "It's beautiful," She said holding it up towards one of the rooms lights. "I read about the Victorious. She was a good ship."

"She was." Said Xander. "Her decommissioning ceremony was attended by enough Starfleet brass to make a philharmonic orchestra." He paused for a second. "She was one of the most decorated ships in the fleet for her time. It felt weird taking apart a ship with such distinction. But, she was past her time. She deserved to rest rather then rust."

"It's always good to go out under your own terms than fade away into uselessness." Larissa held the shard out for Xander to take back.

"You never fade away into uselessness if your remembered. Now, you will always remember her." He said.

"Are you sure?" She asked when he didn't take the shard back. "This is quite the thing to give to someone you've only just met." She said rather surprised at his boldness.

"You know, I grew up a fleet brat. I used to look at warp cores and see strong hearts like you do. I can't see that now. Now that I know how the 'magic' works. But, to see you seeing it like that, it just makes me believe again. So, it's a gift. From one believer to another." Xander said closing her hand around it.

"Thank you... Xander. I've never been given a gift quite like this before." She told him as she put the shard safely into one of her pockets.

"See, to you it's a crystal full of power and wonderment. I work with them. To me, it's just dilithium. Thank you. Thank you for helping my see the beauty in them again. If only for a moment."

"You're welcome." Larissa said chuckling slightly. "Do you have anything planned for after your shift?"

"Nothing that is really important. I was going to be doing some extra curricular research. It actually involves the heart as you call it." Said Cash. "But I can put that off till tomorrow."

"Fancy joining me in the mess hall? You could tell me just what you did to wind up spending your first 24hrs in the brig?" Larissa suggested.

"I would love that." Xander said.

Larissa smiled widely. "Shall we say 1800hrs?"

"In the Blue Parrot? Asked Cash

"The Blue Parrot?" Larissa asked in return.

"It's the name of the Ship's Lounge." Said Cash.

"Ah, I haven't had a chance to head across to the lounge, I made here my first stop when I hit this deck." She told him. "The Blue Parrot then, 1800hrs."

Cant wait.. "Said Cash."



OFF:

Lt jg Xander Cash
(Acting) Chief Engineer
USS Crazy Horse

Ltjg Larissa Syndel
Chief Operations Officer