Mike had just wrapped up the last of his meetings, and made it back to his office, padd in hand to download data into his terminal. As he did so he realized that the reports he’d requested had also been sent in, leaving him with an overwhelming amount of data, and a whole hell of a lot of work to do. Stepping over to the replicator he requested an extra-large white chocolate raspberry coffee, with cream and sugar, and watched as it miraculously appeared. With a surprised nod he picked it up and tasted it, expecting to find it completely wrong, or cold, or any number of things, and was again, pleasantly surprised to find that it was perfect. 

Returning to his desk he sat down, and began to read over the collected information, both from his own notes, and those from the reports the department heads had sent in. Just going over it took him nearly an hour, and by the time he got to the actual note taking he was on his second cup of coffee. Finally, almost three hours later, he felt he had a workable plan of action, and set to filling in the necessary requisition forms, and reaching out to the people he knew back at Fleet Command to see if he could pull some strings and call in some favors. Eos was in dire straits, and her department heads were barely keeping their head above water, as they floundered in the deep dark depths. He needed solutions, and he needed them fast. 

He had just finished sending a request when the screen suddenly flashed to the incoming signal screen, and a strident tone filled the air to alert him that he had a live communique coming in. Tapping the command to accept the signal he waited for it to resolve. “You can’t be serious…” Commodore Juana Ortega said as soon as her face appeared on the screen. As one of the more influential members of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers he figured it was worth a try to enlist her help. 

“I wouldn’t have contacted you unless I was, I assure you,” Mike said, “Also, good morning,” he added with a smile. 

She scowled at him, and then smiled back. “Evening where you are, I believe. But listen, Mike, this is a big ask. Do you have any idea what Eos is called around Command? And you want me to dispatch a whole CoE team to assist your chief engineer in getting her back into shape?” 

“Honestly, yes. But I’ll take what I can get.” Mike replied, with a resigned nod. “We need help here, Juana. Not only is that station in disrepair, but morale is also awful. This is seen as a punishment assignment, somewhere you are sent to be put out to pasture, or because Command doesn’t think you can cut it anywhere else, but they don’t want to just toss you out of the service. If we don’t get at least a little bit of help we are going to have a real crisis on our hands…” 

Juana stared at him for a few brief moments, and then sighed as she sank back in her chair. “I knew you were going to cause my trouble back when you were in my Intro to Engineering class, Mike,” she said, and then gave him a broad smile. “Be glad I like trouble! I’ll see what I can do. No promises, and it may not be a full team, hell it might not even be CoE, but I’ll take a look at your list and get you anything I can to help. Word on the street is your chief engineer has already been hounding for supplies and stuff, so some of what you asked for is likely already in the pipeline. I’m going to focus on bodies on the ground first if that’s alright, and then go from there?”

“Sounds fine to me, Juana,” Mike replied, a genuine smile beaming. “They don’t call you engineers miracle workers for nothing!”

Juana let out a guffaw, “Flattery will get you nowhere, Commander! Besides I’m not your type.” 

Mike laughed deeply. “Thank you so much for being willing to help, Juana. I mean it. Next time you are out this way stop by; I’ll buy you a drink. Bring Michelle, I haven’t seen her since y’all’s wedding!” 

“Will do, Mike. Invitation works both ways; you find yourself on Earth and we’ll treat you!” came Juana’s reply, with a genuine smile. 

After they disconnected Mike settled back in his seat. It wasn’t anything definite, and it was only a small step in the right direction, but it was a step. He would just have to settle for what he could get and make the best of it.