“Lad, it hasn’t been properly vetted!”

The shouts carried across the 4th cargo bay of USS Fresno as the large Bajoran Chief Engineer and the short, stout yet equally imposing Tellarite Chief of Security drew some attention and stares among the general crew.  As Captain Michael Dart and Commander Thalissa Zheen rounded the corner and entered the cargo bay, they could clearly see a tense situation brewing.  Thalissa stepped forward to intervene, but Michael waved her off.  “Hold on, I want to see how these two handle this before we step in.”  Fresh off the shuttle that had brought the two of them in, Michael’s intention had been to seek out and introduce himself to his Chief Engineer before he made his way to the Bridge.  Naturally, since the Fresno was still in the middle of transferring out much of its old agricultural equipment in exchange for more heavily specialized engineering equipment and tools during their stop at Starbase 72, his Chief Engineer would be absent from Engineering in order to oversee the transfers going on in the cargo bays, instead.

Regarding the apparent conflict he had walked in on, it appeared as though no ground was going to be given.  The voice he heard now was that of Kiran Nivar, his Chief Engineer.  “Look, this is what was ordered in!  This is what shows on a damned manifest!  I’m failing to see a problem here, Lieutenant Commander!”

“Oh, don’t ye go throwin’ damned pips around like marbles and jacks, ye friggin’ doorknob!  You’ve got the same exact bloody trinkets stabbed into your neck as I do mine!  The problem, Lieutenant Commander, is that this bloody crap is nae signed off on!”  This was the shorter, angry Tellarite that faced down the Bajoran.

Micheal gave his First Officer a sidelong glance.  “Um, why do we have a Tolkien Dwarf raising hell in Cargo Bay Four?”

Thalissa shrugged, her antennae twitching with confusion.  “I have no idea what that means.  But if you’re talking about the Tellarite gentleman’s accent, I think it comes from a Human colony.”  The Andorian leveled her gaze at Michael.  “That’s Vorak, our Chief of Security.  He’s from Caldos, even though he’s Tellarite.  So his accent is kind of funny.  If that’s what ‘Tolkien’ means.”

“Tolkien.  You know, Lord of the –” Michael shrugged, giving up trying to explain his joke.  “Oh, nevermind.  It’s Human literature.  Ancient stuff up there with Hemingway and Moby Dick.  Anyway, Caldos is a colony modeled after Earth’s Scotland.  So I guess that explains some things.”

Meanwhile, the argument between Chief Engineer and Chief of Security continued.  “Look, I personally ordered this equipment in, and here it is!  So you have my assurance that it is supposed to be here!” an exasperated Kiran Nivar was saying.  “All of it is vital and we sure as hell can’t leave the starbase until all of it is either stowed away or installed in place of all that farming garbage we just sent packing!”

“And lad, I’m telling ye’ that without the proper source signatures, your boxes of toys could have come from anywhere!” Vorak retorted.  “Do ye know how close we are to the Cardassian border?  How friendly to the Federation have they been, like ever mate?  Until we can verify exactly where it came from, this shite goes back until it’s properly certified, end of story!”

Michael found himself sighing as he brought up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose.  His First Officer gave him a sidelong glance.  “Is it time to step in yet?”

“Yeah,” Michael agreed.  “I’ve heard enough.”

“They both have valid points.  But Vorak does have the right of it” Thalissa pointed out.  “I had his job just last week, and I’d be raising the same concern in his shoes.”

“I suppose.” Michael smirked wryly.  “I can tell this is going to be an interesting crew.”  He stepped forward towards the two verbal combatants, holding his hands up as though he were entering a robbery situation.  “Alright, everyone calm down.  What’s the issue here?”

Kiran Nivar gestured towards a grouping of nearby stacked crates, pallets, and cargo containers.  But before he could get a word in, Vorak snatched the PADD out of his hand and stabbed a meaty finger at a particular spot on the screen.  “Sir!  This is the problem right here!  I cannae verify where exactly this shipment was sourced from!  It shouldn’t have even made it aboard!”

“I know where it came from.” Nivar countered.  “I’m the one who ordered and approved all of this.  Some knucklehead didn’t sign before it went out, or else the manifest on the file got corrupted.”

Micheal reached his hand out expectantly, and the Tellarite handed the PADD over to him.  He glanced it over, nodding.  “You’re probably right, but Vorak does raise a valid concern.  Tell you what.  Time is of the essence, but we want to be thorough.  You never know.”  He gestured at the shipment.  “It stays aboard for now.  But before any of it gets unpacked, Vorak and his team looks into this manifest.  Isolate it somewhere safe in the meantime.  That satisfy everyone’s concerns?”

The Tellarite scrunched his face dourly as though he were weighing some negotiated deal at a market and was trying to determine if he’d just been scammed.  Finally, he huffed an approving sound.  “Works for me.”  And then as bluntly as he’d just been arguing with the Chief Engineer, he took the PADD from Michael and stormed off with it as he began barking sharp orders to a pair of his team.  Michael and Thalissa exchanged a look at the Security Chief’s abrupt departure.

“Christ…  Is Lieutenant Commander Vorak always that uh, worked up?” Michael asked with a raised brow.  “Senior officers shouldn’t be making this kind of scene in front of the crew.”

“Ah, look at him.” Kiran Nivar said with a grin.  “You work with much Tellarites?  He’s happy as a clam.  Vorak loves a good argument.  I knew he was right.  He knew I knew.  Poor guy just also knows most people aboard can’t handle a good debate and keep their cool with him.”  The Bajoran shrugged.  “He can always come to me and I’ll give him a good run for his money.  Least I can do for him.”  He gave the Tellarite a jaunty wave and received a tusky wide smile in return from the security chief before he resumed conferring with his two guys.  “See?  Everyone’s friends here.”

“I see.  Well, it’s definitely made for the most memorable introduction I’ve ever had.  I’ll say that much.” Michael commented.

“I’ll say.” his First Officer agreed.  She held out her hand and shook it with the Engineer.  “Commander Thalissa Zheen.  And you must be Lieutenant Commander Kiran Nivar, our Chief Engineer.”

“In the flesh.” Nivar took back his hand and gave Michael a nod.  “Captain Dart.  So, what do you think of our happy little ship of fools so far?”

“I’d describe it as unique.  But, exciting.  I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been spending the week wearing out the floor of those quarters they gave me on ‘72 pacing back and forth waiting for you to show up and berth.”  Michael smiled.  “Good to finally settle in.  Be even better getting back to Engineering.”  At the strange look the Chief Engineer gave him, Michael clarified.  “I don’t regret leaving my Engineering Bay behind on the Adroit to get into Command.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t miss it.  The shift in role we’re making here aboard the Fresno?  I see it as the best of both worlds.”

“Well, then you’re probably itching to see my Engineering Bay.  I think things are well in hand here.  I can give you the tour, if you’d like.” Nivar offered.

Thalissa leveled a cool look at him.  “Your bay?”

Michael gave his First Officer an appreciative nod, but waved the comment off.  “Our bay, Chief.  Ours.  But look, I’ve been in your boots before.  I know where you’re coming from.  All of the matters in that room are yours, that’s your realm.  I’ve got more than enough to chew on out here.  But from one Engineer to another, I know about the temporal dilation effect when it comes to timelines between Chief Engineers and Captains.”  Michael gave a sarcastic smirk at his Engineer’s narrowing eyes to show he was kidding.  Mostly, anyways.  “But, I also remember all the ridiculous demands that couldn’t be met, as well.  So I won’t be asking you to pull any rabbits out of your ass, either.”

Nivar barked out a laugh, at that.  “The Prophets are good to me, then.”  As the trio made their way out of the cargo bay, he gestured down the corridor.  “Right this way, sir.  You know much about the California engines?”

Michael cocked his head at the question.  “What kind of Engineer-slash-Captain would I be if I hadn’t been studying the technical manuals in detail?  The second I was given this shiny fourth pip and was told I’d be going over to Fresno, I was in my quarters pulling them up.”  He gave a sheepish grin.  “Had to know just what I could demand up there on the bridge if it came to it.  We should never push past a warp factor of eight unless we’re desperately trying to pull our asses out of the fire.  But given the nature of our general assignment, I doubt it’ll ever come to that.”

“Never say never, sir.” Thalissa interjected.  The former security officer was a strong advocate of assuming the worst and gladly accepting the best.  “But to use a phrase you Humans are so fond of, I’d hate to jynx us.”

“Well, if we had to push 9.9 it could only be a short burst.” Nivar pointed out.  “It’d be one hell of a shake though.  If we were roughed up enough already, it’d be the end of us.”

“How is it working with the inverted plasma distributors?” Michael asked.  “It true what they say about the pitch of the warp drive being off?”

“Boys and their toys…” Thalissa teased.

“Oh, come off it.” Michael retorted with a laugh.  “You know after we’re done here you’ll be in the security office with Vorak nerding out over his ‘toys’ in the armory.”

“Touché.” the Andorian admitted with bemusement.

“It’s an octave or two higher than you’d expect from other ships.” Nivar answered.  “But that’s actually vibrations you’re hearing from the dilithium dispersement manifold.”

Michael nodded, impressed with the explanation.  “Huh, learned something new today.”  He was going to get along just fine with his Chief Engineer.  The trio continued down the corridors to the turbolift that would eventually bring them down one of the ship’s pylons to the secondary hull of Engineering.  The sounds of an Engineer and one who was still an Engineer at heart talking shop rang pleasantly down the halls in their wake.