[USS Anaheim – Engine Room]

The engine was large, larger than her last ship the USS Thames. Commander Adriana Cruz watched as the yellow uniformed engineers crawled over it like ants, all with specific jobs in mind and none really comprehensible to her. She had introduced herself to the team, most of whom worked for the USS Anaheim rather than the base where they were docked. Apparently Lieutenant Young the Chief Engineer had taken the Captain’s command to oversee the repairs to ship to mean to have his team do it, not that it was the wrong choice. In a pinch she felt more confident in the people who’d be in deep space with her, rather than strangers she never met from a station who weren’t there.

”So I get my own room now?” a young woman asked Young. 

He shrugged, “I think so we’ll see. I don’t control rooms. Talk to operations.”

”What’s this?” Commander Cruz asked.

”Chief Petty Officer Constable is the Assistant Chief Engineering Officer and was promised her own room. Last mission there wasn’t room with all the civilians we had on board,” Young explained examining a isolinear chip. 

Cruz nodded, it was easy to forget that on these older California classes Ensigns and lower were housed in hallways as opposed to private rooms. It was yet another downgrade that she was going to have to get used to, even though she got her own room as First Officer. 

“I’ll talk to Operations, we’ll get you sorted,” Cruz said.

”See this is what effective leadership looks like. None of this bureaucracy,” Constable said.

Young who had clearly gone through more than a few lectures at this point from his assistant sighed but did not say anything. Instead he replaced the chip in the computer and removed another one, examining it. What exactly he was up to was beyond Cruz, who had never done that well with engineering. She had to take her proverbial hat off to anyone who was in the field.

Young spoke with some of the engineers and reviewed what needed to be done. The repairs to the Anaheim were not going to be done over night. While it had come through the fight it had been in without any real structural damage the engines and above all the shields had taken a beating and would need extensive work done on them before they were ready for regular use again, even if nobody was anticipating getting into another fight anytime soon.

The Commander shrugged, getting the feeling that the Chief Petty Officer was both a bit of a rebel and a troublemaker, which endeared her to the Commander but also made her a dangerous source of bad ideas. Starfleet did not need a Marxist revolution breaking out on one of its California Class ships. 

“So what’s his deal?” Cruz asked of Young as he was directing his engineers around something to do with the warp engine out of earshot. 

Chief Petty Officer Vanessa Constable shrugged, “Nice guy. Smart engineer. Maybe not command material really but good Chief Engineer. Took a chance giving me the Assistant Chief Engineer job when it was an easier choice to pick some Lieutenant Junior Grade. I guess he’s the only one on the ship who’ll put up with me.”

”Well we should fix that,” Cruz said, “but good to know. I’m trying to get the scoop on all the crew.”

“We down in engineering aren’t the cool kids, we just keep the ship from falling apart,” Constable said, only half joking. Picking up a wrench she laid on the ground and scooted under a terminal, and started banging as if that was a solution to anything which as far as Commander Cruz knew it could well be. 

She was getting the dynamic of the section now. Constable was smart and troublesome, but Young knew that she was his best ‘man’ and had taken a chance promoting her. Constable for her part bugged Young but knew his limits, and her real problem was dealing with people outside of the department who might not be used to such abrasive behaviour. Cruz knew that someone like Constable would need guidance, and advice, a perfect job for a Commander who wanted to nurture the next generation of officers.

“You taking the Officer’s Exam?” Cruz asked.

”Yeah part of the deal was that I pass it,” Constable said between bangs.

”I’ll help you study, I think it would be good for you and the department,” Cruz said.

Cruz was still making plans for what was next, her next assignment on a far more exciting ship than a medical California Class, but there was not harm in helping those around her. The rising tide lifts all boats, and so forth. She had read Captain Nathan Hawthorne’s record, and could see how easy it was for an otherwise competent captain to get stuck doing a needed but unexciting job for years on end. It was up to her and her drive not to let this become a dead end the way it had for him.

“What do you think about Captain Hawthorne?” Cruz asked.

The banging continued, “He’s fine. I’ve only met him like four times. Seems fine. Captains are captains, alway want more power to shields or more speed. Went along with Young’s plan to promote me, so credit to him I guess. I dunno, I work for Young, not Hawthorne. Or, no offense, you.“

Cruz shrugged, a gesture that she realized the young engineer could not see beneath the console, “None taken. Just trying too… what’s the word get handles on everyone?”

”Just tell him to stop breaking our ship,” Constable said, “and you and me will get along fine.”

”I think it was the attackers who broke it,” Cruz pointed out.

”Well it got broke, and now Young and me are the ones who have to fix it.”

[Starbase 72 – Lounge]

”How’d meeting with engineering go?” Captain Hawthorne asked.

”Chief Petty Officer Constable is either brilliant or an anarchist. Or both. Young is a good Chief Engineer, but needs more command training if he’s going to grow beyond the department,” Commander Cruz said. 

Hawthorne nodded, that had been his own assessment of his engineering team as well. He grinned at the XO, “Look at you already thinking about progressing the careers of the crew. This is nice.”

”What’s nice?” Cruz asked.

”Having a First Officer who doesn’t hate me. The last few have all been doctors who at best saw me as their chaperone, not letting them do their medical stuff,” Hawthorne said.

Cruz nodded, not seeing quite how that could be frustrating but also not interested in digging into the issue. Some people did not like doctors, that was fair. Unfortunately when you were the Captain of a medical starship that was also kind of a problem. Still that was Hawthorne’s problem, and as the first officer she was only expected to deal with the ship not his personal problems with Starfleet or the entire medical establishment.

”Look you’ve been a good sport so far about this, I know you wanted a more prestigious post,” Hawthorne said, “trust me I understand.”

”What I wanted, and what I have may be two different things, but I am going to make the best of it,” Cruz said, “Something else will come up, and I’ll be ready and the best person for the job.”