—- USS Luna, Main Engineering —-

“She’s back. How is it that you always have attractive women waiting to chat with you? You’re so boring,” Assistant Chief Engineer Vanessa Constable teased. She’d become the Assistant Chief Engineer back on the USS Anaheim when she’d been the best engineer in a competition and the unlikely proportion had seen the enlisted woman transfer to three ships as the Assistant Chief despite higher ranked officers being above her. 

”We’re just friends,” said Chief Engineer James Young. The engines of the USS Luna were in perfect shape, so there was little he could do prior to launch. Despite its age the ship had been taken good care of, as the namesake of the class serving on the ship had been a source of pride for the previous crews and that was evident. What little damage there was had been corrected by a few months at Sol Station and a full refit and re-engineering to bring it up to speed with the rest of the fleet.

”Sure, does she know that?” Constable asked but before he could answer ducked out of the office and into the engineering department. She was a frustrating human being, but a talented engineer which Young respected even if she drove him (and at times the senior staff crazy). 

Shortly after Constable’s departure Lieutenant Diya Acharya entered. Not unlike Doctor T’Rala used to before she had remained on the planet with Romulan crash victims. James wondered if there was something to Constable’s claim that they were more than just friends, then set it to the back of his mind as he swiveled his chair to greet her and stood.

“Lieutenant,” he said warmly.

”Lieutenant Commander,” she said and nodded formally and then grinned, “Settling in?”

”It’s better than fresh off the line, this is worn in, but well maintained,” Young said casting his arm about in a gesture towards the entire ship around them. He continued, “Nothing’s really new or impressive on its own, but together it’s a fine machine, and more than that I can fix just about anything on it with the industrial replicators.”

”Sounds like an Engineer’s dream,” Acharya said looking around. Nothing looked that impressive but then again she was not an engineer and other than the fact that this room was bigger than the one of the USS Seattle, she was not quite sure of the improvements. She glanced back at him and brushed a strand of hair behind her ears, “Did you want to visit the arboretum? I hear it’s quite nice.”

Young nodded, “Is there an issue with the climate control there?”

”No I just thought you might like some nature, a walk,” the Chief Diplomatic officer said.

James shrugged, “I guess I can check out the system, see how it works.”

Acharya nodded but looked as though she was not completely satisfied with his answer. She had hoped that he could enjoy time with her and exploring the ship would be draw enough without his turning it into an engineering task. 

—- USS Luna, Arboretum Deck —-

After declaring the climate control an interesting bit of engineering, the Chief Engineer seemed to settle into having a nice time in the expansive deck. For Acharya if the USS Seattle had made her long for the icy vistas of Andoria where she had last been assigned then this went a long way to making space manageable. Already the science department had declared their ownership of the deck and the various plants that lived there, likely a result of having a botanist as the Chief Science Officer. 

Once free to talk around the deck and take in the sights they did so, walking together in silence which eventually Acharya broke by asking a question, “So you doing alright?”

”Sure it’s a good ship, everything is in good shape,” Young answered, which was missing the point of the question.

Nodding as if he’d answered it she tried again, “And you get on with Ensign Constable, and you’re doing okay socially and stuff.”

”She’s annoying but she’s a good engineer and that’s what matters,“ Young said after a beat, again missing what the woman was trying to get at which was a deeper truth. He’d lost someone close to him, for weeks or potentially forever and it had to be hard. 

She tried as a response talking about her own feelings, “I feel excited by the possibilities of serving on an explorer like this. I miss Doctor T’Rala though, she was a unique woman.”

”I didn’t think you knew her that well,” James said, “but yeah she was unique.”

”She’s not dead,” Acharya said realizing maybe her phrasing might have been off, “Just you know… not here.”

”Yeah, not here,” James agreed studying a spider’s web wondering how pest control was handled here. Starships very rarely had bugs on them, but then maybe they were needed for the ecosystem of the plants here. 

—- USS Luna, Main Engineering —-

“How was your date?” Ensign Constable asked when her boss returned.

”It wasn’t a date,” James said simply.

”You went walking through a garden. Did you eat any apples?” Constable asked.

”What no, look she’s a fellow officer it wasn’t a date just exploring the ship,” James said picking up a PADD with engine readouts on it.

“You’re the dumbest smart person I’ve ever met,” Constable said, waving a hand and then returning to work. Engineers, she thought to herself, you can’t teach them anything about women.