Tinkerer, Engineer and Fighter Jock Enter a Room

Posted on Sun Oct 17th, 2021 @ 9:01pm by Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Sandra "Phantom" Risa & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Hangar Bay - USS Sunfire
Timeline: Backpost from before returning to DS9

Acting on the Captain's orders, and her schedule available to do whatever work was needing to be done, Bonnie entered the Hangar clutching her data PADD tight to her chest. She looked around the vast space for sight of Risa or Lt. Klaren. When she couldn't see them beyond the fighters and other shuttles, Bonnie moved off in the direction of flight control.

As always Sandra had her head deep into the fuselage of Phantom 1, listening to the chatter, and suddenly sensed the arrival of another person. Pulling her head out, "Hi there, can I help you?" she said smiling warmly.

"Commander." She froze in her tracks. "You mentioned in the briefing that you could use some help, so, here I am." She gestured to herself in her new surroundings. "I was expecting Lt. Kla'ren to join us, but I'm not sure where he is just yet." She was curious about what the Commander was doing inside the fighter craft, but chose to keep her curiosity at a minimum for now.

Laughing at the surprised officer, "Yes I did didn't I. Well the sensors are slightly out of alignment and need to be re-aligned. You could do that....." Sandra said, "Oh and I don't bite just bark...," she said chuckling.

"He he," Bonnie chuckled back nervously at the joke. She never could understand why anyone would bark or bite but knew that each person held their own little quirks and kinks. "So, is this the one?" She asked as she moved towards Phantom 1 with her kit.

Thriss walked into the Hangar Bay with a bag of tools slung over his shoulder. There was a chance that he didn't need them, but it was better to be safe rather than sorry. He glanced around until he spotted his colleagues and walked over.

Bonnie caught sight of him as he approached, his sturdy build only overshadowed by his rich blue color. "Lieutenant. Glad you could make it." She greeted with enthusiasm knowing the situation would be much less intimidating now that there was someone else for the Commander to chat with.

Thriss nodded to both officers. "Sorry about the tardiness, engineering has been quite busy these past few days with repairs and some new projects."

"I fully get it, I do." Bonnie sympathized. Then she gave a look up to Risa, "Would you care to convey what it is you need? I'm already handling the sensor array."

"Sure, um, the warp engines seem a little sluggish, my last time out. Can't afford to lose warp in the middle of a dog fight" Sandra said laughing.

"Could be vital in case you need to make an escape" Kla'ren chuckled. "Shall I look into it Commander?" Thriss asked Risa.

"Of course please do," Sandy said grinning. She liked engineering types. They always had a good sense of humor and were easy to speak with.

"I'll take a look and see what I can do" the Engineer replied as he began to examine the first fighter.

"Great, thanks and maybe when we're done we can get some drinks to end the shift?" Sandy said as se watched them work.

The Chief crawled into a small compartment near the tiny warp drive of the fighter. He pulled his engineering tricorder off of his utility belt to begin his scans of the tiny warp drive. "I would be down for a drink" the Andorian continued his scans.

"Good, then it is all set. End of the shift we all meet for drinks and some food if you would like", Sandra said smiling widely.

Inside the cockpit Bonnie had been adjusting the sensors, using her targeting array scanner. She could overhear the chat about drinks but had not desired to engage. She was just here for the tech work and was not feeling the need for engaging right this moment. Instead, she kept busy in the hopes they had not meant to include her.

Thriss continued to examine the core. After a few more moments of scans and diagnostics, he came to the conclusion that there was a delay in the computer as well as a few things that needed to be fixed on the actual core. But it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

"Lieutenant, can you try and reduce the delay from the connection between the flight control panel and the warp core?" Kla'ren asked Bonnie from the compartment that accessed the fighter's small warp core.

"I'm... Yep." Bonnie replied. She pulled out her tricorder and scanned the control panel. It responded by showing a data chain relay issue just under the board. She closed the trip, then swung her legs around so the were verticle and her head was under the console.

She spent a minute or two inspecting the controls and the wiring before she found what she was looking for. After rummaging and exchanging and much grunting she popped back out before calling down to T'hriss. "There were half a dozen burnt out iso chips in the control unit. Try it now." And then she mumbled to herself, "Why these haven't been upgraded to bionueral packs yet is beyond me."

"Understood" he called up. He then carefully switched on the core. "The core seems stable. What are the readouts on the console about response time?"

"Metrics are stable. Reading a deviation of .0034, which is well within specs." She replied as she read off the flow chart. Of course there was data and then there was real world tests. "Flight control, weapons control all read nominal if you want to test her out?" Bonnie concluded before hoping out of the cockpit seat.

"Gonna have to test it out while flying in the thick of it. But thanks guys, as now I can feel easy. Now how about that dtink?" Sandra asked them both.

The Andorian Chief slid his tools out of the compartment, and then slid himself out of the area and stood up again, closing the door in the process. "Honestly, I could use one right now" he chuckled looking at Risa.

"How about you Bonnie? A drink?" Sandra said.

Smiling awkwardly, Bonnie declined. "No thanks, I'm good. But you two go ahead." In her mind, she felt she would spoil things for others despite the fact she had been drinking with Avarak and Dean and had really let loose with Anna and Saphire. But this felt different, offputting slightly.

"You sure Bonnie? You're more than welcome to join us," Sandy said.

"No, I'm sure. You two go on ahead. Have a good time. Besides, I have a book I haven't finished waiting for me in my quarters." She lied.

Kla'ren looked at Bonnie, then at Risa, and back at Bonnie. "You are free to join us if you change your mind."

She smiled and waved awkwardly, "Thanks." Before watching them walk away. She then set to work cleaning up the tools and herself not considering for a minute that she had missed her opportunity to make a new friend.