In Absentia

Posted on 23 Feb 2016 @ 11:32pm by Lieutenant JG Rael Psy.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Duval

1,469 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Cargo Bay Two
Timeline: MD83 - 1000Hrs

[ON]

Warrant Officer Second Class Anthony Duval was in a Cargo Bay today, fixing the environmental subsystems in the room. He had all of his gear with him as he was basically replacing the entire unit with a new one.

Duval sighed as he removed one last isolinear optical chip, as he brought it to his face to give it a close inspection, he noticed some dark streaking on it. "Burnt." he muttered, his bass accent sounded almost evil. "Lousy piece of scrap..."

He gently pried loose the casing as he heard the doors open behind him. "Whatever you want... can it wait?" he almost growled to the unseen person behind him, before he yanked off the casing with a loud snapping sound.

Rael was walking--a somewhat usual occurrence for the Vulcan--when he heard muttering and cursing coming from behind an open panel. Curiously, he approached. "What is it you are doing?" he wondered, peering down at him.

"I'm replacing a busted piece of crap." Duval answered as if the answer should be self-evident. "What do you need?" his tone indicated the intruder should make it fast.

"I do not require anything," Rael replied serenely. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued observing.

Duval went back to work as he gently slid out the case containing the vast majority of the chips for this junction. There were three dozen in all. "Computer..." he turned his head ever so slightly. "Run a level two diagnostic on the life support systems in cargo bay two?"

"Life support is offline."

"Good..." he raised an eyebrow. "You're in my light." he said to the person behind him. "Must you stand there?"

Rael took a step back out of the way.

"Thank you." Duval responded as he went back to work. "Mmm..." he rumbled something while he worked.

The Vulcan continued watching. "What is the matter with it?"

"Its busted. Sending random energy spikes into the system, the computer is confused about what's going on... so I'm here to rip it out and then replace it." Duval explained.

"Might I observe? Your process appears fascinating."

"Someone wants to watch me work..." Duval shrugged. "Who am I to deny you?... Put the kettle on would ya... two sugars and cream."

Rael cocked his head for a second, before it dawned that he was being asked to fetch some coffee. Fortunately, there was a replicator nearby! Hooray. Rael procured the requested beverage, along with one for himself. "Two sugars, one cream." He apparently did not mind being an errand-Vulcan.

Duval accepted the mug before he took a sip, only to spit it back out. "What on Vega?" he growled. "I wanted a cup of tea... I hate coffee... makes me sick to my stomach." Duval answered.

Oh well :C Rael tried.

"That is a lot of hostility over a cup of coffee," he said, smiling faintly. "Here," he took the offending cup. "I'll get you a replacement, how about that?"

Duval actually wanted to get back to work as he was losing sunshine here jawing with this guy he didn't know. "Tea please." Duval answered in a dark monotone as he went back to work, prying loose the faulty system, it parted from the bulkhead with a loud clang. "Ah. Gotcha..."

He was brought proper tea this time! Yay.

Duval took a sip before he opened his mouth and drank the entire mug back in a half dozen mouthfulls. "Ahhh.." he gave a rather satisfied sigh before he placed the mug down next to his toolkit and he went back to work.

Rael sipped at his coffee (which he still possessed) and he leaned against the opposite wall to watch. Silently like a good shadow. In fact, Duval could almost be convinced that he wasn't even there at all...

Duval was working, while he removed the various isolinear rods from the housing. "Yep... burnt... systems overload... figures..." he muttered to himself. "Okay..." he turned his head as he realized his would be companion was still here. "What's on your mind?" he realized he was talking to a Vulcan.

"Pardon me?" Rael looked up from his cup.

"You are pardoned." Duval responded in a dry tone. "What's on your mind... clearly you want something otherwise you wouldn't still be standing there?" he inquired as he opened his second case and began picking out isolinear chips one at a time, checking them over.

"Ah, no--I'm merely curious," the Vulcan answered mildly. "What does that system do, exactly?"

"Well it monitors the life support systems in this room, it handles the temperature, humidity and various other functions." Duval rumbled as he began swapping out the old chips for the new ones, he checked them as he went along.

"What happens when it needs a repair? Do you merely route its functions to another section of the ship?" Rael noted that they were still breathing, so this seemed reasonable.

"Nah." Duval responded. "I turn off the life support and vent all the air throughout the ship.." he responded, his dry wit starting to come out. "I'm sure I've missed something so do not be alarmed when the air starts blowing out into space... which should be any minute now..." Duval softly chuckled.

"Ah. I have lived a good life, fortunately. I can only hope that they bury me with dignity," he responded, equally dry.

"Alright a good thing to live for.... or is that die for?" Duval responded. "I always get those mixed up," as he worked, shortly replacing all of the various chips. "These old ones are useless... I might keep them..." he shrugged.

"Why keep them?" Rael wondered, though it wasn't accusatory.

"I dunno.. " Duval responded as he replaced the housing with a new one. "There we go... and... lets see.." he paused. "Computer, restore life support in cargo bay two."

"Life support in designated area has been restored."

"Excellent," as he finished his work. "Blown power relay," he said to the Vulcan.

He leaned forward to examine the panel. "Do you know what caused it?"

Duval simply shrugged a he finished his work. "Mmm... could be any number of things... power surges... computer errors, someone screwed up... who knows... but we caught it and its now fixed. When I get back to engineering, I'll check for computer glitches and I'll check the software code for this... but do you know how much code that actually is?" Duval turned his head. "Considering I'll need to go through the program code again, line by line."

"I am afraid I do not know much about the particulars of power relay coding," Rael admitted with a small smile.

"Oh... it's... educational..." Duval responded in a dry tone. "By the time you get through ten million lines of it, you'll want to commit seppuku," Duval explained.

"Seppuku?"

"Its Japanese... from Earth..." Duval responded. "It basically means 'ritual suicide." he added. "Earth I'm told is a very important planet." he smiled as he tried to stop a laugh but he only half succeeded. "A planet is a planet... no one planet is so important that it can dictate to several thousand others how to govern themselves."

"Indeed not," Rael agreed. "Do you hail from Earth?"

"No. I most certainly do not." Duval responded. "Do I look like I'm from Earth?"

"Where are you from?"

Duval was a military brat so rather then roll his eyes and give the man a stupid answer. "Lots of different places... but I call Vega... home."

"Vega IX?" Rael confirmed. "I confess I've never been. What is it like, there?"

"There is only one Vega. Known alternately as Alpha Lyrae," Duval explained. "It's a tropical world as the star is twice the mass of Sol while being several times the size of Sol," he added. "Vega is a lovely world... If you can stand lots of heat and moisture in the atmosphere..."

"It regrettably sounds quite ill-suited for Vulcan physiology," Rael said with some amusement. "We do not do so well with humidity--but I am sure it is quite lovely."

Duval nodded. "Fair enough..." he responded. "Well... my work here is finished." as he began packing away his gear. "Then I get to head back to engineering and see what needs to be finished." he sighed softly.

"Indeed." Rael held out his hand. "It was very nice to meet you."

Duval regarded the other guy as he gently shook the Vulcan's hand. "You too... a Vulcan who doesn't mind being touched... and is in tune with his emotions?" he inquired as if he didn't believe it.

Rael shook, firm but brief. "Indeed. Stranger things have happened."

"So I tend to keep hearing." Duval responded.

[OFF]

Lieutenant JG Rael
Assistant Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Anthony Duval
Engineer
USS Galileo

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